Routledge Handbook of Korean Business and Management

Abstract

In this chapter, we introduce the significant governmental initiatives taken to enhance gender diversity in the workforce and assess their ramifications. We first explore gender diversity practices within the Korean corporate management around the year 2000. We introduce the history of diversity-related policy measures championed by the government aimed for empowering women in the workplace, such as the affirmative action programme, family friendly certificate programme, and flexible work arrangement programme. We also evaluate how work-life balance (WLB) mechanisms have been instrumental in fostering a more gender-inclusive environment within Korean firms, as evidenced by national data. Finally, we conclude with remaining issues relevant to diversity management in Korea. © 2025 Chris Rowley, Johngseok Bae, Hicheon Kim and Heechun Kim. All rights reserved.