women-s-representation-in-indian-boardrooms-climbs-to-18-3-yet-lags-global-average

A recent report by Deloitte highlights a gradual increase in the number of board seats held by women across Indian corporate landscape, with women occupying 18.3% of board seats in 2023, up from 13.8% in 2018 and 17.1% in 2021. 

 

However, this figure falls short of the global average of 23.3%, according to the 'Women in the boardroom: A global perspective' report released on Friday.

 

The Deloitte Global Boardroom Program conducted an analysis of more than 18,000 companies in 50 countries, including 400 companies from India, to explore the representation of women in the boardroom.

 

Shefali Goradia, Chairperson of Deloitte South Asia, emphasized the need for a paradigm shift in boardroom diversity. Goradia stated, "India Inc. must break from historical patterns and prioritize capabilities over past roles."

 

Despite the global average showing a 3.6% increase since 2022, reducing the timeline towards achieving gender parity by seven years – from 2045 to 2038 – the report indicates that achieving gender parity on boards would still be a distant goal for India without a robust pipeline of women leaders.

 

Goradia suggested that by nurturing governance expertise creatively and regularly evaluating progress, a robust pipeline of talented women leaders could be cultivated for a brighter future in corporate governance.

 

Deloitte Global introduced the “stretch factor,” a research tool measuring the average number of board seats held by an individual in a particular market. In India, the stretch factor among women increased to 1.32 in 2023 compared to 1.30 in 2021, highlighting the need to create a larger pool of women leaders with varied skill sets.

 

Although there was a decline in board chairs held by women in 2023, with only 4.1% of women chairing boards compared to 4.5% in 2018, there was an increase in the number of women taking up CEO roles – 5.1% female CEOs against 3.4% in 2018.

 

Sector-wise analysis paints an optimistic picture for women representation across Indian boardrooms. The life sciences & healthcare sector leads with 21.3% women on company boards, followed by technology, media and telecommunications (20.5%), consumer business (19.7%), manufacturing (17.4%), and financial services (16.9%), according to the report.