Smashing through the glass ceiling is still difficult for most women in corporate Korea, especially for those who want to climb to the top, government data suggested on Thursday.

According to data collected from government offices, there are 813 board members at the nation’s 100 leading companies in terms of market value. Of them, only 12 are women.

When considering that Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun also serves as the executive chairman for Hyundai Merchant and Hyundai Securities, the figure drops to 11.

Together with Hyun, Lee Hwa-kyoung, president of food giant Orion Corp., and Lotte Shopping board director Shin Young-ja are owner-family members who are directly involved in management.

The remaining eight are outside members who coincidentally serve as academics or members at non-profit organizations.

Industry watchers said that child birth and child care were the key factors interrupting the careers of female workers.

The average number of years’ service by women at the nation’s top 100 companies is 7.4 years, shorter than 11.7 years for men. There are only seven companies where women work longer than men.

At Samsung Electronics, women work for six years on average compared to 9.3 years for male workers, while at Hyundai Motor, the working years of women amount to 12.2 years, 5.6 years shorter than men.

For POSCO, the world’s fourth-largest steel maker dominated by male workers, the gender gap in working years widens to 10.2 years, one of the biggest.

For female-dominant companies, the situation is different. At Lotte Department Store, the gender gap was only one year, while at Woongjin Coway, women have worked for six months longer than their male peers on average.

Korea’s corporate and social culture is also reflected in the high salary gap between male and female workers.

In a report published by the OECD last year, the gender gap in salary was 39 percent in Korea, more than double the average 16 percent among member states.

Now a growing number of female college graduates here favor working at multinational companies as they offer more opportunities to climb the corporate ladder.

“It will take a long time for the nation’s culture to change. Efforts by individual companies are more effective in making real progress,” said a female CEO who leads the Korean unit of a global company.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)