Female executive presence hits record high, but influence still lags

The percentage of female executives at major South Korean companies reached a record 8.1 percent in the first half of this year, but an overwhelming majority of these women remain on the sidelines of actual decision-making, serving either as outsider directors or non-board members, data shows.

According to corporate tracker Leaders Index, an analysis of 376 of Korea’s top 500 companies by revenue showed that 1,210 of the 15,016 executives were women, marking the first time female representation has surpassed the 8-percent mark. The figure more than doubled from 3.8 percent in 2019.

The number of female directors has been on an upward trend since the revised Capital Markets Act, implemented in August 2022, banned companies from forming boards of directors made up entirely of a single gender.

The report showed that sectors closely related to consumers had a higher percentage of female executives, such as household goods (19.5 percent), pharmaceutical products (19 percent), the services industry (13.2 percent), and food and beverages (13.1 percent).

But the ratio of female executives remained particularly low among traditionally male-dominated sectors like construction (3.7 percent), shipping and machinery (3.3 percent), and energy (3.6 percent).

Most of the new female executives were either executives who were non-board members or outside directors, referring to those who are not employees or shareholders of the company. They have equal rights as other directors in board meetings, but have less influence in everyday company decisions, as they are not official employees.

From 2019 to the first half of this year, the number of registered female outside directors skyrocketed from 38 to 292. Unregistered executives — high-level employees with an executive position who are not registered with the corporate registry — went from 457 to 866 in the same period.

Around 15.1 percent of the female unregistered executives were inside directors, and only 52 women among the board members were inside directors. Fifteen of them were related to the owner family of the companies by blood.