[2023 National Audit] Only 15% of Promotions to Level 3 or Higher at Bank of Korea Are Women

It was pointed out that only 15% of those promoted to Grade 3 at the Bank of Korea over the past five years were women.

According to data submitted by the Bank of Korea to Jang Hye-young, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Justice Party, on the 23rd, among the 507 people promoted to Grade 3 or higher from 2019 to this year, 433 (85.4%) were men, while only 74 (14.6%) were women.

Political Desk Interview_Jang Hye-young, Justice Party Member. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to the Bank of Korea's data on the "Number of Promoted Employees by Grade and Gender in the Last 5 Years," among the 819 promoted employees from 2019 to this year, 634 (77.4%) were men and 185 (22.6%) were women.

The proportion of women among the promoted employees has been gradually increasing, with 19.3% in 2019, 21.7% in 2020, 22.4% in 2021, 25.2% last year, and 24.4% this year. However, when limited to those promoted to Grade 3 or higher, the gap widens significantly.

Looking at the proportion by grade within each gender, among the 634 male promoted employees, 79 (12.5%) were Grade 1, 160 (25.2%) were Grade 2, and 194 (30.6%) were Grade 3. In contrast, among the female promoted employees, only 2 (1.1%) were Grade 1, 6 (3.2%) were Grade 2, and 66 (35.7%) were Grade 3.

Rep. Jang pointed out, "While the absolute number of female entrants in the past was low, considering that the proportion of female new employees increased significantly from 5.1% in 2000 to 27.8% in 2010 and 36.5% this year, it is clear that promotions to higher positions (Grades 1 to 3) within the Bank of Korea for female employees are not frequent."

She further noted that these differences in promotion by grade ultimately lead to gender disparities among senior and managerial positions. As of the end of September, among 319 executives at Grade 2 or higher, considered senior officials at the Bank of Korea, only 10 were women, accounting for just 3.1%. Additionally, among 365 team and section chiefs, considered middle managers, only 37 (10.1%) were women as of the end of September. Including these, among 688 employees at Grade 3 or higher, only 81 were women, representing 11.8%.

Rep. Jang stated, "The minimum condition for reflecting diverse perspectives in organizational decision-making at higher ranks is, above all, securing 'gender diversity.' The central bank, responsible for financial stability and supervision, must take groundbreaking efforts to increase gender equality and diversity."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.