Chennai Ranked Number One Among Top Cities In India For Women To Work: Report

Chennai topped the list of 111 Indian cities in providing an inclusive working environment for women, as per the analysis of a recent report. Every city has been given a City Inclusion Score (CIS) based on two factors – Social Inclusion Score (SIS) and Industrial Inclusion Score (IIS).

The SIS is based on four indicators that contribute to making a city women-friendly:

 Provides quality of life, economic ability and sustainability

 Safety score that represents the level of women’s safety within the city

 Women’s representation rate within the total workforce of the city

 Women’s representation rate in terms of regional women empowerment initiatives in a state

The IIS evaluates based on three indicators of whether organisations and industries of the city are inclusive of women:

 Inclusive organisations

 Inclusive industries

 Career enablers (child-care, flexi timing, remote working option, mental health consultation and other facilities provided by the organisations in the city)

South Indian cities have made it to the top, with eight cities in Tamil Nadu topping both categories. There are some cities like Delhi, with a high IIS but a low SIS. This indicates that the workplace maybe women-inclusive, but social factors such as quality of life, women’s safety, women empowerment initiatives and women’s representation in the workforce create a barrier for women’s employment. Delhi ranks 19th in the SIS ranking, but it has fared better on the IIS parameter, ranking ninth among all the cities.

There are also cities that have a high SIS but a relatively low IIS such as Puducherry, Visakhapatnam, Surat and Bilaspur. This indicates that the social environment in these cities is comparatively more favourable for women, but are far behind when it comes to being enablers of women-inclusive organisations and industries.

As per the recommendations of the report, these gaps can be filled by taking cues from the top-ranked cities:

 Usable public amenities, effective crime response and better living standards

 Conducive working culture, supportive peer groups and a thriving corporate ecosystem

 Inclusivity-driven work spaces and culture, which will aid steady professional and personal growth.