By Ko Dong-hwan
The United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) latest survey showed, Monday, that Korean society holds a high and increasing level of bias in regard to gender social norms and gender equality.
Among 37 selected countries, Korea ranked lowest in terms of social agreement on gender equality, according to the 2023 Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI). The survey compared the level of social recognition of gender equality from 2010 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2022. In the case of Korea, the level retracted from the preceding period.
Korea fell closely behind Chile, Mexico, Iraq and Russia, while Germany, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan led the rank.
This year's GSNI report quantified biases against women, capturing people's perceptions of women's roles along four key dimensions: political, educational, economic and physical integrity.
The survey found that over 93 percent of Korean men and 87 percent of Korean women had a bias on at least one of the dimensions. Regarding women in society, over 72 percent of Koreans had political bias, 56 percent had physical integrity bias, 55 percent had economic bias and 34 percent had educational bias.
Only 10 percent of Koreans had no bias on any of the dimensions ― while the figure was over 64 percent in Sweden and 66 percent in New Zealand.
Covering 85 percent of the global population, the index showed that almost nine out of 10 men and women hold fundamental biases against women. Financially supported by the Korean government, this year's UNDP report also showed that nearly half the world's people believe that men make better political leaders than women do. Two in five people believed that men make better business executives than women do.
"Without tackling biased gender social norms, we will not achieve gender equality or the Sustainable Development Goals," the UNDP said on its website upon releasing the report.
"Biased gender social norms ― the undervaluation of women's capabilities and rights in society ― constrain women's choices and opportunities by regulating behavior and setting the boundaries of what women are expected to do and be. Biased gender social norms are a major impediment to achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls."
Governments are critical to addressing gender inequality issues by publically promoting women's roles in society, according to Raquel Lagunas, global director of Gender Equality under UNDP. She said the starting point of such movements should be recognizing the economic value of unpaid workers, most notably those involved with homemaking and childcare. In countries with heavily biased gender social norms, women usually spent 6 times as much time in unpaid tasks as in paying jobs, she said.
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Among 37 selected countries, Korea ranked lowest in terms of social agreement on gender equality, according to the 2023 Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI). The survey compared the level of social recognition of gender equality from 2010 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2022. In the case of Korea, the level retracted from the preceding period.
Korea fell closely behind Chile, Mexico, Iraq and Russia, while Germany, New Zealand, Singapore and Japan led the rank.
This year's GSNI report quantified biases against women, capturing people's perceptions of women's roles along four key dimensions: political, educational, economic and physical integrity.
The survey found that over 93 percent of Korean men and 87 percent of Korean women had a bias on at least one of the dimensions. Regarding women in society, over 72 percent of Koreans had political bias, 56 percent had physical integrity bias, 55 percent had economic bias and 34 percent had educational bias.
Only 10 percent of Koreans had no bias on any of the dimensions ― while the figure was over 64 percent in Sweden and 66 percent in New Zealand.
Covering 85 percent of the global population, the index showed that almost nine out of 10 men and women hold fundamental biases against women. Financially supported by the Korean government, this year's UNDP report also showed that nearly half the world's people believe that men make better political leaders than women do. Two in five people believed that men make better business executives than women do.
"Without tackling biased gender social norms, we will not achieve gender equality or the Sustainable Development Goals," the UNDP said on its website upon releasing the report.
"Biased gender social norms ― the undervaluation of women's capabilities and rights in society ― constrain women's choices and opportunities by regulating behavior and setting the boundaries of what women are expected to do and be. Biased gender social norms are a major impediment to achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls."
Governments are critical to addressing gender inequality issues by publically promoting women's roles in society, according to Raquel Lagunas, global director of Gender Equality under UNDP. She said the starting point of such movements should be recognizing the economic value of unpaid workers, most notably those involved with homemaking and childcare. In countries with heavily biased gender social norms, women usually spent 6 times as much time in unpaid tasks as in paying jobs, she said.
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