Gender inequalities in Korean family business: contradictions between show and tell

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.