Abstract
Abstract
Drawing on theories of structural inequality, neoliberal ideology, and feminist resistance, the study applies an interdisciplinary framework from media, culture, and communication studies to analyze the mechanisms that sustain gendered disparities in the Korean labor market. South Korea holds the distinction of having the widest gender wage gap among all OECD nations for 30 consecutive years and has ranked last on The Economist's Glass Ceiling Index for eight consecutive years. The World Economic Forum's 2024 Global Gender Gap Report explains that South Korea ranks 94th out of 146 countries (score: 0.696), with a near-perfect score in educational attainment (0.98) but critically low scores in economic participation (0.605) and political empowerment (0.223). This paradox, in which educational parity coexists with persistent occupational and political exclusion, reveals that gender inequality is not a matter of individual capability but a structural and systemic condition. The author argues that workplace inequality is reproduced through the interplay of invisible institutional barriers and dominant cultural frames, and that the polarized social responses to this problem, ranging from neoliberal denial to radical feminist resistance, reflect the depth of its entrenchment in Korean society.
Presentation Slides
Recommended Citation
Bak, Seorin Stella
(2026)
"Gender Inequality in the South Korean Workplace : Structural Barriers, Cultural Frames, and Conflicted Responses,"
Proceedings of the New York State Communication Association: Vol. 2025, Article 14.
Available at:
https://docs.rwu.edu/nyscaproceedings/vol2025/iss1/14