India ranks fifth lowest in having women at top leadership positions

India's ranking in gender diversity has improved with the representation of women in top leadership positions rising to 20 per cent in 2018, even as the country ranks fifth lowest in having women in such roles, says a report.

The findings in this report are drawn from 4,995 interviews conducted between July and December 2017 with chief executive officers, managing directors, chairs, and other senior decision-makers from all industry sectors in mid-market businesses in 35 countries.

According to Grant Thornton's Women in business: Beyond policy to progress report, though the percentage of leadership roles held by women in India has increased, still 30 per cent of the respondents said they have no women in the leadership roles.

Also, according to the report, there has been a steady growth in women in leadership positions from 17 per cent last year to 20 per cent in 2018. This number stood at 14 per cent in 2014.

"While the representation of women in top leadership roles is on the rise, the process is indeed slow, limited to the dated approach of ticking the diversity box," said Kavita Mathur, People & Culture Leader, Grant Thornton Advisory Private Limited.

The data shows that gender equality policies are abundant and widespread, with 64 per cent of Indian businesses adopting equal pay for men and women performing the same roles, and 55 per cent implementing non-discrimination policies for recruitment.

While 57 per cent of the surveyed Indian businesses suggested that government should do more to address the issue of gender inequality in business leadership at a legislative level, only 31 per cent expressed that businesses and government need to work collaboratively in this area.