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With more women seeking professional careers in Korea, an era of female bosses is dawning. In the case of Samsung Electronics, the number of female workers in managerial positions totaled 900 out of 850,000 employees.
A joint survey of 1,875 employees by the Chosun Ilbo and CareerNet, a jobs Web site, revealed that 57.8% of respondents said that they have worked for a female boss. But the emergence of female managers has also sparked conflict, as the atmosphere in some Korean workplaces is still not yet fully attuned to the idea of women leaders.
¡ß "Female Bosses are Difficult to Serve"
When asked if they would would work for a woman, 69.5% of male respondents said they would "gladly accept" the proposition, the survey revealed. Yet when asked their preference, only 36.9% of male respondents said they would rather have a female boss, demonstrating that most Korean men would avoid a female boss if they could.
While acknowledging that female managers do have strengths, some male workers said that female bosses can be "emotional" and may not understand them well. They also said women are difficult to get close to and lack of leadership skills.
Mr. Lee (29), from 3M Korea, said, "Female bosses tend to be meticulous, and I've learned a lot from my female boss. But it is difficult to have frank and open conversations with them over drinks, like I can with male bosses."
Mr. Na (33), from LG Group, said, "I was perplexed when my female boss went home after closing an important deal. If she were a man, we would have gone out for drinks and to build a closer relationship."
¡ß The Source of Conflicts
"Most male workers feel the conflict of 'reverse stature' when they work beneath a female boss," said Kang Hye-ryun, a business professor with Ewha Women's University. It feels more natural to have a male above them, she said.
Female bosses are suffering too. Ms. Lee (41), a director at P&G Korea, said, "When I first won an executive position, I was told by a male staffer that I had risen the corporate ladder quickly despite being short on experience."
"When I lifted heavy objects, my male staffer said, 'How can a woman be so strong?'," Ms. Kim from Korea Gas Safety Corporation said. "At first, I tried to act like a man, but I've since decided to utilize my female characteristics."
Kim Yang-hee, a senior research fellow at the Social and Cultural Research Dept. of the Korean Women's Development Institute, said that women in the workplace can feel trapped. "When they focus on building human networks, people say they aren't up to the leadership job. But when they show strong initiative and give orders, people say they're not acting like women," she said. "It's all too easy for women to succumb to this 'role dilemma' at work," she added.
¡ß Putting Female Resources to Use
Experts contend that by fully capitalizing on the strengths of female workers, corporations can increase their competitiveness. And not just women, but companies and even nations should strive for an atmosphere where female managers can unleash their abilities, they said. Holding leadership seminars for female managers is one way to begin, they said.
Last year, the Ministry of Labor cited LG CNS as the firm that best nurtures women in the workforce. The ministry said companies like LG CNS where female resources are well utilized recorded 20~30% growth rates. Catalyst, an American women's-issue-oriented research agency, said that a survey of Fortune 500 companies in 2004 showed that firms with more female managers posted higher price-earnings ratios.
Research fellow Kim Yang-hui said that it's time for Korean society and companies to discover the importance of female workers, since they will be the source of creativity and diversity that will determine future competitiveness.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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