{"title":"Gender inequalities in Korean family business: contradictions between show and tell","authors":"Amee Kim, Poh Yen Ng","doi":"10.1108/ijge-12-2022-0225","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Purpose This paper explores how gender-related issues are communicated in Korean family-run conglomerates ( chaebols ) and the roles of women within these businesses. It also addresses to what extent the communication of chaebols about female employment and career development reflects the perception of gender representation in these organisations. Design/methodology/approach By paying attention to gendered discourse in Korean chaebols, this paper examines what is said and written about gender issues in glottographic statements (texts) and non-glottographic statements (charts and other visuals) of annual reports (ARs) published by five chaebols since 2010. The paper uses a Foucauldian framework to develop the archive of statements made within these ARs. Findings Although there is an increase in female-employee ratios, ARs show that number of women at the board or senior management level continue to be small. ARs tend to provide numbers related to female employment and retention in their non-glottographic statements, yet these numbers occasionally differ from and frequently are not explained by glottographic statements. The strategies used by chaebols to improve career prospects for their female staff are only vaguely described and rarely evaluated. Originality/value This paper looks beyond the existing discourse analysis on “talk and text” by also investigating claims made through graphic and linear/pictorial elements and their interplay with text. This approach opens new understandings of how gendered discourses are constructed and how they (unintentionally) fail to resolve issues and perceptions related to female employment and career development in Korea.","PeriodicalId":46720,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ijge-12-2022-0225","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose This paper explores how gender-related issues are communicated in Korean family-run conglomerates ( chaebols ) and the roles of women within these businesses. It also addresses to what extent the communication of chaebols about female employment and career development reflects the perception of gender representation in these organisations. Design/methodology/approach By paying attention to gendered discourse in Korean chaebols, this paper examines what is said and written about gender issues in glottographic statements (texts) and non-glottographic statements (charts and other visuals) of annual reports (ARs) published by five chaebols since 2010. The paper uses a Foucauldian framework to develop the archive of statements made within these ARs. Findings Although there is an increase in female-employee ratios, ARs show that number of women at the board or senior management level continue to be small. ARs tend to provide numbers related to female employment and retention in their non-glottographic statements, yet these numbers occasionally differ from and frequently are not explained by glottographic statements. The strategies used by chaebols to improve career prospects for their female staff are only vaguely described and rarely evaluated. Originality/value This paper looks beyond the existing discourse analysis on “talk and text” by also investigating claims made through graphic and linear/pictorial elements and their interplay with text. This approach opens new understandings of how gendered discourses are constructed and how they (unintentionally) fail to resolve issues and perceptions related to female employment and career development in Korea.
期刊介绍:
Launched in 2009, the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship (IJGE) aims to facilitate the natural evolution of the field of gender and entrepreneurship by drawing together the very best research contributions from around the world. The journal seeks to: -Provide a dedicated publication outlet for high calibre, international research of interest to scholars, entrepreneurs and policy makers in the field of gender and entrepreneurship -Offer a unique perspective on the practice of gender and entrepreneurship by including sections dedicated to practitioner and policy content -Support a more consistent global approach to the presentation of research in the field -Platform the work of dynamic young researchers and those who are in a position to offer new perspectives on this particular research area -Enable those active in the area as researchers, educators, trainers, practitioners, support personnel and policy makers to keep up to date with the field on an international level. The coverage of the journal includes, but is not limited to: Entrepreneurship, Female/Women’s entrepreneurship , Business, Management, Strategy, Gender, Economics, Internationalization, Marketing.