India has, in recent years, seen a sure and steady rise in women’s participation in leadership roles across fields despite the fact that women’s overall labour participation remains low. As a recent survey by leading advisory firm Grant Thornton shows, India stands at the seventh rank among 29 countries with regard to the number of women working in senior management positions. At 38 per cent women as a part of senior management, India ranks higher than the global average as well, which stands at 32 per cent.
In a quote about the survey, Vishesh C. Chandiok, CEO of Grant Thornton Bharat said, “The fact that India is way ahead of the global average and from a low base five years ago, shows how much progress is possible in a short period of time. With a substantially higher number of women taking up leadership roles in the Indian mid-market companies, I am confident this trend will lead to further gender parity.”
However, it’s not just senior management seeing an upward trend in women participation. A reflection of the surge was also seen in women at top business schools in India. As per the India’s Best B-schools Survey 2022 by BT-MDRA (Marketing & Development Research Associates), the number of female students at top management schools in India grew to 34.5 per cent in 2021-22 batches as opposed to 27.7 per cent in 2014-15 batches. Women MBA aspirants in the top 51-75 B-schools also saw a 43.5 per cent participation, up from 37 per cent in 2021-22 and 2014-15 batches respectively. In B-schools ranked between 76 and 100 too, the women’s share was at a phenomenal 45.5 per cent.
Image used for representational purposes only.