(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 28 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of South Korean firms listed on the secondary KOSDAQ market are being led by female executives, though men in their 50s who majored in tech dominate the industry, data showed Monday.
The number of female CEOs at the country’s 1,269 firms on the tech-laden bourse came to 43 as of last month, up from 30 in 2016 and 39 as of the end of last year, according to the data by the KOSDAQ Listed Companies Association.
Of the total 1,550 top officials, female leaders accounted for 2.77 percent this year, the data showed.
Industrywide, some 45.4 percent of the CEOs were in their 50s, followed by those in their 60s with 22.8 percent and top officials in their 40s taking up 21.7 percent, according to the association.
Of the CEOs, 48.8 percent held a bachelor’s degree, while 22.7 percent and 15.2 percent finished masters’ and doctoral courses, respectively, the data showed. A mere 1.9 percent were high school graduates.
Nearly half of the KOSDAQ firm leaders studied engineering and science, while some 37 percent majored in business and economics, according to the data.
Graduates of the country’s top Seoul National University accounted for the largest number of KOSDAQ CEOs with 19.4 percent, followed by Yonsei University alumni with 10.3 percent and Hanyang University with 8.1 percent, with Korea University trailing at 7.0 percent, the association noted.
The KOSDAQ-listed firms have been in operation for 23.1 years on average as of last month and have an average of 232.5 employees, according to the data.
(Yonhap)
