Gender shock: Share of Indian women in managerial roles declines

Country's progress in achieving board diversity falls behind comparable peers

Men account for over 80 out of every 100 persons in managerial roles in India. And the number has gotten worse for women after the pandemic.

The share of women managers dropped from 16.9 per cent in 2019 to 15.9 per cent in 2022, according to data collated by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). India has had one of the largest drops in representation compared to key peers, shows a Business Standard analysis of data in the 'OECD Corporate Governance Factbook 2023'. Only Japan has done worse among the five large economies of the world. India has also done worse than key emerging market peers for whom data is available as seen in chart 1 (click image for interactive link).

Indian women’s progress at higher levels, in the boardroom, has been slow. The Companies Act, 2013 mandates firms to have at least one women director. Around 18.2 per cent of director seats were held by women in 2022 compared to 15.9 per cent in 2019, according to data from the 'Women on Boards Progress Report 2022' by index provider MSCI. The report tracked companies that are part of the MSCI ACWI Index for emerging and developed markets.

Other countries with similar mandatory diversity requirements like India have a higher share of women directors. Their average share in board seats was 28.5 per cent for 31 countries for which data was available. The MSCI report also showed that 13 per cent of Indian companies, which form a part of the ACWI Index, had boards which were at least 30 per cent female in 2022. Representation was higher in Brazil (20 per cent), the US (58.3 per cent), South Africa (71.4 per cent) and Germany (87.3 per cent). China and Japan had a lower share (chart 2).

Around 5.6 per cent of Indian companies on the MSCI ACWI Index and cited in the 'Women on Boards' report had female chief executive officers (CEOs), lower than 5.8 per cent for the index overall. Around 0.9 per cent of the Indian companies had female chief financial officers (CFOs) while it was 16.9 per cent for the index overall.

The gender gap persists even in pay across countries but is starker for India, where for every $100 earned by a man in India, a woman earns $23 (chart 3).

Women in Saudi Arabia earn slightly more ($28.8).