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www.groovekorea.com / May 2014 48 Young female graduates face deep-rooted job-hunt discrimination Qualified, trained and nowhere to go Story by Hyejin Park / Photos by Colin Dabbs and Ali Safavi J eong Yoon-ji, 26, graduated from the prestigious Sookmyeong Wom- en’s University last year and like many of her peers had dreams of working for one of Korea’s big companies. With a high GPA, a double major in French and economics, and a year and a half of internship experience in the U.S., she thought her chances were pretty good. But earlier this year, she was cut before the final round in her most recent attempt at securing a job. “I need to submit anoth- er application,” said Jeong, who has been unemployed for more than six months. “In- stead of me, they hired a guy who is overall less qualified.” Jeong believes that gender plays a ma- jor part in why even competitive female job-seekers like her struggle to find jobs. In a survey of company recruitment man- agers conducted by Korean employment portal site Saramin, 72.2 percent said they prefer male candidates over female. In big companies, 86.7 percent prefer male workers when they choose new employ- ees, while 70.9 percent of small and me- dium-sized companies say they prefer men to women. The discrimination is seen not only in ma- jor companies, but also in schools and pri- vate academies. “There aren’t many male teachers in Korean schools, so most school officials want to hire more male teachers,” said Nam Yoo-kyung, a temporary teacher at a high school in Daegu. Gender discrimination is seen even in teacher’s exams, especially for private schools, she says. While public school teachers must accrue a minimum score af- ter three steps to pass the national teach- er’s exam, private schools usually require an in-person interview on their teaching practices. In this process, says Nam, school board members prefer male can- didates to female because of the absence of male teachers in the classroom, as the career is popular mostly among women. “If there is one male and one female candi- date, the school is more likely to hire the man over the woman if their scores are not very different.” With Korea’s economy squeezed by glob- al pressures and its workforce saturated by overqualified candidates, youth unemploy- ment for both men and women has hovered above 8 percent since 2010, according to the Ministry of Labor. Even after years of studying to earn degrees from top univer- sities, the highest-qualified graduates are still struggling to secure good jobs. More than 1 in 4 doctoral graduates from Seoul National University, regarded as one of Korea’s most prestigious universities, is unemployed, compared to 15 percent in 2009, a survey by the school revealed. Job-seeking women are faced with an ex- tra challenge when employers factor in their potential long-term stay at the company — and potential leave. Private companies are also wary of paying more or offering other benefits for women such as maternity leave and child care. According to Statistics Ko- rea, 1 in 5 female workers quits her job due to marriage, pregnancy or childbirth. Mak- ing matters worse, the career disruption is most common among women in their 20s and 30s, the age of their highest working capacity. The length of time before women leave their jobs is also quite short — 41.5 percent leave after one to three years, 21.5 percent after three to five years, and 15.5 percent after less than one year. In other words, 3 out of 4 married women who go through career disruption lose their job within five years. “I’ve seen many of my other friends, who are well qualified, fail to get into good companies, (even if) they prepared a lot. I have failed several times so far, too. One girl in my job preparation study group, who graduated from a top school and had per- fect qualifications, failed when she applied for a big conglomerate,” said Jeong, the Sookmyeong Women’s University gradu- ate. “But one girl who is quite attractive got a job as the secretary of a chairperson at a big company. She just graduated from a women’s college that is not regarded as a good school.” Jeong wants to join a large company for the many more benefits for women than at small companies, she added. “That is a big reason why many female job seekers, including me, want to find a job in govern- mental agencies or big corporations, which are fairly well known for taking care of their female workers’ welfare.” According to the Hankook Ilbo, steelmak- ing conglomerate POSCO won an award from the deputy prime minister for economic affairs for having the best company welfare program. Its welfare benefits have made it a top company for job seekers in Korea, es- pecially among women. The company has many breastfeeding rooms and nurseries to care for working moms’ children during the day, and was even the first company to hire women who are married with children for its production lines, according to the article. “But the reality is that it is very hard to find companies like POSCO that offer consis- tently good welfare benefits. Except for the few well-known companies or public-sector jobs, most companies want to save money,” Jeong added. Nam, the temporary teacher, graduated Edited by Elaine Ramirez (elaine@groovekorea.com) INSIGHT