Women hold 36 percent of Senior Roles in Mid-Market Enterprises in India, Report

By: WE Staff | Saturday, 11 March 2023

According to Grant Thornton's International Business Report, India has 36% women in senior management roles across mid-market companies, which is 4% more than the global average of 32%.

According to the report Women in Business 2023 - The Push for Parity, women now hold 32% of senior management positions around the globe in mid-market companies, and 36% of those positions are held by women in India.

According to the survey, there are still no women in senior leadership positions at about 9% of these companies worldwide. It is good to see growth in the representation of women in senior leadership roles as we continue to work towards gender parity in the workplace.

The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), which annually polls almost 10,000 company leaders across 28 nations, is the top mid-market business report in the world.

The conclusions in this research are based on almost 5,000 interviews and surveys with CEOs, MDs, chairs, and other senior decision-makers from mid-market organisations in 28 countries, which were performed between October and December 2022.

For this analysis, 281 mid-market companies in India were questioned. The survey also showed that for the first time, women in senior management across all regions (Africa, APAC, ASEAN, Latin America, North America, and EU) exceeded the 30% mark.

The largest percentage point increase was seen in the ASEAN region, which went from 37% to 40%, according to the survey.

APAC surpasses North America for the first time since 2018 thanks to a climb from 30% in 2022 to 32%, with North America being the only area to see a decline from 33% to 31%.

According to the report, India has a higher percentage of women in leadership positions than the current worldwide (32%), BRIC (34%), and G7 (30%) norms.

The report claims that continuing commitment from firms to offer flexible working is possibly the biggest help in reaching gender parity.

Research also demonstrated that companies that allow for hybrid, flexible, or home working do better when it comes to the representation of women in senior management.

According to the report, 36% of mid-market companies worldwide now operate exclusively from offices, while 53% use a hybrid strategy.

According to the survey, 62% of these enterprises in India are using a hybrid model, 27% are still largely office-based, 5% of the workforce is permanently based at home, and 5% have completely flexible schedules and the option to pick where to work from.

The percentage of women in chief executive officer (CEO), managing director (MD), and chief information officer (CIO) posts has increased significantly this year, despite just a minor increase in senior leadership positions overall.

Only 15% of companies in 2019 had female CEOs or MDs, according to the report, which added that the current global average is 28%.

According to the survey, only 5% of mid-market companies in India have any women in senior leadership positions.

We also need a business culture that continues to fully support greater diversity in senior leadership if we are to make progress more quickly. These factors include more policy- or change-driven programmes, increased leadership pathway transparency, and more.