KWDI Korean Women’s Development Institute

The purpose of this study is to analyze the status and issues of career planning, employment and career development of young women with a high school diploma, and to recommend youth employment policies that can enable them to become professionals in each area. The research methods are 1) review of previous studies and policy documents, 2) statistical analysis, 3) questionnaire survey on young female employees aged 34 and younger (966 people) and 4) holding meetings of the advisory group.

The main results can be summarized as follows:

○ The statistical analysis of the economically active population rate and labor force population rate of young high-school graduates (aged 15 to 29) shows that the rates are slightly higher in men, but the gender gap is not significant. The number of young female workers with a high school diploma is 633,000 in 2013, accounting for 42% of the total young workers with a high school diploma. About 40 out of 100 workers with a high school diploma(40men,58women)graduatefrom general high school. These graduates from general high school have not a chance to prepare for employment at high school and thus experience much difficulties transitioning into employment.

○ The existing youth employment policies are primarily targeted at the non-employed (e.g. the unemployed and prospective candidates for graduation). However, the future policies should include measures for 1) young people in the economically inactive population who are preparing for employment, 2) young employees who are employed in irregular or other unstable jobs, 3) and unemployed youth with previous work experiences.

○ As young female workers with a high school diploma experience a career interruption,policymeasuresshouldenable young female workers to build basic capabilities while they are at high school before graduation to prevent career interruption. For young female workers who have already graduated from high school, policy measures should focus more on workers in their late 20s and older (who graduated from high school five years ago or before) rather than on workers in their early career stage. That is because female workers have more employment opportunities and the quality of their job is better immediately after graduating from high school, but after five years, the gender gap in employment opportunities, wage, job satisfaction, career-major congruence and job-education congruence begins to widen and women are bound into unfavorable conditions.

○ The majority of female workers with a high school diploma are less determined to continue their employment status and see a lower chance in developing their career to the next level. Two thirds of unmarried female workers with a high school diploma and one third of married female workers with a high school diploma are uncertain whether they will continue working after marriage and childbirth as a working mother. About 43.1% of female workers (46% of female regular workers) believe that they will have better job opportunities if they continue developing career and only about 34.2% believe that women with a high school diploma can grow as professionals or core workers in the employment field.

○ Based on the results of the analysis, this study recommend 1) improving governance of youth employment policies and gender balance, 2) prevention of career disruptions of female workers with a high school diploma, 3) improvement of conditions for combining work and learning, 4)support for young female graduates from general high school, 5) introducing a whole life perspective in career education for female high school students and 6) follow-upstudies on employment and career development of young female workers with a high school diploma.