Globally Women hold 7.4 percent of Fortune 500 CEO roles

In 2020 the proportion of women in senior management roles globally grew to 29%, the highest number ever recorded

In India, Women constitute 48.1% of India’s population

Only 27 percent of adult Indian women had a job, or were actively looking for one. That compared to 79 percent of men.

The average percentage of women in senior management roles in India has improved marginally from 17.6 per cent in 2019 to 19.9 per cent in 2021.

At only 3%, Corporate India is still struggling to bring women to the CEO position, Out of 1,814 chief executives and MDs of NSE-listed companies, only 67, or 3.69% are women

According to the global general gap report 2021, it is going to take about 100 years to achieve gender equality based on the current rate of progress. 

50% of women leave jobs at mid management and only 25% return

During Covid, 26.6% of women have been forced out from the workforce, as against 13.4% of men

Men in India earned 19 percent more than women for the same job. The ILO says India has one of the world’s worst gender pay gaps.

It’s a known fact that a diverse team brings together a broad spectrum of talents, intellect & skills and are better equipped to creatively solve problems, besides Organizations that have inclusive teams and leadership have increased productivity, creative product development, better employer engagement and increased market share. Then why is it that the corporates in India are closing their eyes to this reality? Is it lack of policies, infrastructure, role models, processes or strong patriarchal mindsets that is preventing the women to reach the top? The companies that perform best financially have the greatest numbers of women in leadership roles- yet proportion of women in senior positions in the Indian workforce has been reducing significantly. As we celebrate 72 years of our constitution, Women's fight to equality continues.

As Diversity catalyst, while i focus for Inclusive workforces that should include all Genders, LGBTQI, Non Binary, People with Disabilities- Physical & Intellectual & Economically Weaker sections, it is disheartening to see the biggest and the most educated segment of the Diversity spectrum-Women, lagging far behind. So yes, the Glass Ceiling is not a feminist agenda, its an Inclusion agenda.

Women outperformed males in 17 of 19 criteria that distinguish exceptional leaders from ordinary or weak leaders, including creating relationships, cooperating, and communicating, according to a Harvard 360 assessment from 2019. The reality is that the CEO's of today are the result of decisions and actions taken more than five years ago. The numbers can only increase if the supply of COOs, CFOs, CMOs, CIOs, etc increases. If that pipeline is not increasing, we will never find enough CEO material at the top. While there is a huge influx of women at entry level, 50% of these women leave at mid management level and only 24% return back to full time work. While at the entry levels women are much better represented, by the time one gets to the senior levels, it thins out to the point that merely 3% make it as CEOs in India.

The important question is What are the obstacles to female leadership and is it really important to organizations? Why do most women drop during mid management? Are women trusted with equal opportunities and responsibilities? And however cliched these may be, are the stereotypes like -Women are not good at networking, can’t work long hours, they are soft hearted, don’t understand numbers, machines etc true? How are the invisible barriers like the sticky floor, glass cliffs and doors adding to this?

How are organizations quantifying Gender bias and/or quantifying the merits of Inclusion? Is Sexual, color, body discrimination or harassment in the workplace adding to the statistics? In my experience organizations create policies but are vary of celebrating it (maternity, adoption, periods, LGBTQI, single parent, hybrid working). There is also a strong case on Women not able to use several networks, social media platforms and policies to get back to work. Virtual Networking, Upskilling, Getting a Mentor, Making use of policies and platforms that the organization offers is important, but there is a strategy to it, and it goes hand in hand while creating a roadmap to balance work and family cause the triple burden is a reality, worsened by the Pandemic.

The triple burden is a concept that was originally introduced by sociologist Ann Oakley. It was initially about dual responsibilities- a paid job over here and unpaid domestic work. In 2021, there’s a third aspect competing for women’s time-The emotional work. Now, more than ever, women are bearing the brunt of this. The triple burden is both cultural and systemic. Even in the most equal of partnerships, it’s deeply ingrained within us that kids, kitchen, supplies, entertaining, relatives , emotional responsibilities fall to women

Its more important now more than ever to empower ourselves, to not feel guilty of asking for conveniences, comfort from an organization, to not feel shy of delegating and saying No. Ask for what you deserve.

There is an opportunity and need for women to play leadership roles and we need to work hard to ensure this. It is important to reflect honestly on our own attitudes towards gender. In many cases, these attitudes are something of which we are not consciously aware. And simply telling people not to be sexist does very little to help reduce these biases

In the next few weeks we will be talking to several Women and Corporate decision makers to share their stories and ask questions that have been swept under the rug. Are you willing to talk? If yes, DM on my Linked in or drop a Hi at wediversify@helix-hr.com