Only two in 10 employees in management positions at South Korean companies are women, highlighting the continued gender disparity at work, government data released Monday showed.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, women account for 37.79 percent of the total workforce in the country, with 20.9 percent of management posts being held by women at the 2,040 state-run and private firms that were surveyed.

Firms with more than 1,000 staff members had a higher level of female managers, with 21.08 percent of management posts being filled by women. The employment rate for women there was 38.74 percent, according to the data.

In companies with less than 1,000 staff members, women account for 37.15 percent of employees and 19.41 percent of management posts are held by women.

Private firms had a higher proportion of women at work at 37.88 percent and in management posts at 20.77 percent, compared to state-run organizations which had a female workforce of 37.31 percent and 16.44 percent of women in management posts.

By sector, the percentage of women in management posts was extremely low in construction (1.62 percent), heavy industry (2.36 percent) and gas, electricity facilities management (2.83 percent.)

On the other hand, health and social welfare had the highest level of female managers (52.25 percent), followed by food service (46.82 percent) and business support services (34.64 percent).

The female labor participation rate aged 15-64 stood at 55.6 percent as of 2013, far lower than other advanced economies, such as the US (67.2 percent) and Germany (72.4 percent).