Perennial quest for parity: Women leading firms still scarce, says study

Despite some progress, women still underrepresented in certain sectors

About 97 per cent of the listed companies have at least one woman director, but women hold only 21 per cent of directorship positions, according to a study conducted by Prime Database Group ahead of International Women's Day.

 

The study, involving 2,133 NSE-listed companies, highlights the "leaky bucket" phenomenon, which implies that the proportion of women decreases while moving up the corporate hierarchy. Women make up 23 per cent of employees, but only 13 per cent of Key Management Personnel (KMPs) and 10 per cent of executive directors.

 

The report reveals that while almost all companies now have at least one woman director on their board, women hold only 21 per cent of directorship positions. Only 5 per cent of companies have a woman managing director and a CEO. Women also hold just 480 out of the 4,828 (or 10 per cent) executive directorship positions at India Inc.

 

Prime Database Group's MD Pranav Haldea said there was a need for policies and practices that support women's career advancement. "The critical need of the hour is to form policies and supportive practices and to make this a part of the board agenda," he said. 

 

The report also notes that women are underrepresented in certain sectors, such as energy and telecommunication, and there is a significant pay gap between men and women in the corporate sector.

 

The study found that the median remuneration of male executive directors was 62 per cent higher at ₹1.14 crore in comparison with ₹71 lakh for women. The average of the median remuneration of male KMPs disclosed by the 1,155 companies was almost double that of women KMPs at ₹1.65 crore in comparison with ₹83 lakh for women.