International Women’s Day witnessed a positive shift in India Inc.’s corporate landscape, as a recent Deloitte report highlighted a steady rise in the number of board seats held by women over the past five years. According to the ‘Women in the boardroom: A global perspective’ report, released on Friday, women now occupy 18.3% of board seats in 2023, marking a significant increase from 13.8% in 2018 and 17.1% in 2021.
However, the report revealed that India still lags behind the global average of 23.3%. Despite the progress, achieving gender parity on boards remains a distant goal until a robust pipeline of women leaders is developed. The timeline for global parity has been accelerated by 7 years, now expected by 2038, highlighting the need for India Inc. to match the global pace.
Deloitte South Asia Chairperson, Shefali Goradia, emphasized the necessity for a paradigm shift in boardroom diversity. She stated, “India Inc. must break from historical patterns and prioritize capabilities over past roles.” The report emphasized that many companies tend to recruit board members with CEO or CFO experience, hindering the development of a diverse pipeline.
The report, analyzing over 18,000 companies in 50 countries, including 400 companies from India, underscored the importance of nurturing governance expertise and regularly evaluating progress to cultivate a robust pipeline of talented women leaders. Deloitte Global’s “stretch factor,” measuring the average number of board seats held by an individual, indicated a positive trend for women in India, with the stretch factor increasing from 1.30 in 2021 to 1.32 in 2023.
In terms of sector-wise representation, the life sciences and healthcare sector emerged as a leader with 21.3% of women on company boards, followed by technology, media, and telecommunications (20.5%), consumer business (19.7%), manufacturing (17.4%), and financial services (16.9%). This sectoral breakdown reflects a diversified effort towards gender inclusivity across various industries.
Goradia concluded by highlighting the need for creative nurturing of governance expertise and regular evaluation of progress to ensure a brighter future in corporate governance. The report’s findings underscore the importance of India Inc. prioritizing capabilities and fostering diversity to achieve true parity on corporate boards.
