Only 1 in 10 women in India Inc rises to leadership position: Study

India Inc may be recruiting more women from campuses for better gender diversity, but women are dropping out of the talent pipeline at mid-to-senior levels. Though there are three women for every 10 employees in India Inc, only one makes it to the leadership team of 10, a study by staffing firm CIEL HR exclusively for ET has revealed.

Top companies like Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, Siemens, Genpact and Tech Mahindra are taking more steps to increase diversity ratios, including recruiting women from campuses by targeting women-only colleges or colleges with a higher percentage of women, women leadership programmes, offering remote working options and flexibility.

But such efforts have yet to impact the top echelons of these companies, as per the study. "...representation of women at executive leadership levels continues to remain low," Aditya Mishra, CEO of CIEL HR Services, told ET.

The study, which was conducted in January 2023, covered the workforce of 528 companies pan-India employing 1.2 million people across IT, business process management, startups, MSMEs, pharma, manufacturing, engineering, construction, FMCG and electric vehicles.

Vedanta is hiring more women from top institutes, including all-women campuses like Banasthali Vidyapith. In addition, it is also going to colleges that have a greater percentage of women in the batch. "We definitely aim to hire more female candidates, be it at entry level or for senior leadership roles," said Madhu Srivastava, CHRO, Vedanta, which is aiming for 50% women talent in its campus hiring programme without compromising on quality.

Tata Steel has a scholarship programme 'Women of Mettle' that provides young female engineering students with manufacturing industry exposure. There are also other initiatives like Women@Mines and Tejaswini for women in mining and other core jobs. It is aiming for a 25% diverse workforce by 2025, a spokesperson said in an emailed response.

Bharti Airtel, through its 'Step In' programme, has recruited 40 women from tier-2 and tier-3 cities who work remotely. "This has equally helped us in expanding our existing talent pool and providing women with newer opportunities. We hope this will encourage more women to continue pursuing their careers at Airtel," said Amrita Padda, chief people officer, Bharti Airtel.