Women Leadership Hiring – Gender Diversity Endemic in India: 2020
Published on Jul 24, 2019
Silicon Valley across the globe has a diversity problem
Only 4.9% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 2% of S&P 500 CEOs are women; Yes, we are living in the same universe, Yes, the figures the are shockingly low. And guess what? The numbers are declining across the globe.
According to a study by Grant Thornton, for Leadership roles, India ranks the fifth lowest in gender diversity. India ranks at 20% in gender diversity ratio for women representation in top leadership positions.
“Your average Indian tech company has 1 female engineer for every 3 male Engineers”
Diverse and Inclusive Essence
Interestingly, there is an increase in CDO’s (Chief Diversity Officers) in major companies (i.e., so-called MNCs) with a sizable workforce for just two reasons: 1. To penetrate and infuse a culture of diversity and inclusion in the company 2. Eliminate any ignorant bias that impacts the Talent acquisition process or workforce with the company.
The paradox of Women Leaders!
Why is Gender Diversity in Leadership important for Women hiring as a whole? Because, a less significant percentage of women in top management, means fewer role models for women to aspire to take leadership roles. Women have started taking important positions like “Team Leads”, “Project Managers”, “Product / Program Managers” and many more at middle management, these trends have started to be witnessed now, but there is a long way to make it become a path for them and work their way up to take leadership roles, just like men. Right now, there is a lean hierarchy in the enterprise org structure for women; We cannot expect women leaders from the below lower layer, if there are none.
Statistics say, 56% of women in tech are leaving their employers at some point in their mid-career. Below are two of the statistics across Gender diversity which might leave you in shock.
- Only 5 percent of leadership positions in the tech sector are held by women
- More than 30 percent of women over the age of 35 are still in junior positions. In fact, women are far more likely to be in junior positions than men — regardless of age.
We did not even start on “WAGE”. Believe us, the numbers are startling, But in India, we are observing a trend with increasing companies which has started to balance out the pay grades or in many cases increase the pay than a male Candidate for many of the niche leadership roles. NASSCOM says.,
“Employers are concerned about the low rates of return to work after maternity for their women workforce”
Notion of Diversity
Companies typically define diversity as Ethnic, Gender, Race, LGBTQ, Color, Physically Challenged, etc.; However, in India, IT sector broadly classifies and defines into two – Gender Diversity and Differently abled (Persons with Disabilities – PwD). Although for India inc, the bigger challenge is in “Gender Diversity” specifically in Leadership Roles.
As per NASSCOM, if 29% of women start working in a given year, the percentage drops to a dismal 7% after 12 years. Which simply means only 7% of the women reach the C-Suite.
Only 7% of women reach the C-Suite!
More actionable corporate strategies must come into play, for example, “Succession Planning” process must take women into account as part all HR policy. Measures like these will go a long way for Gender Diversity in Leadership.
About Han Digital
Han Digital Solution (P) works with clients to build Talent Strategies with Implementation and ownership. Our insights help leaders make better decisions on finding and hiring talent. Han Digital is India’s foremost provider of IT-BPM talent intelligence. We help our clients understand the Information Technologies’ Talent Landscape. We offer customized solutions in Talent Fulfillment across all levels of maturity. Our clients include the biggest names in the technology space. We foster an environment of continuous knowledge sharing. This enables us to push beyond the latest market trends and practices.
Han Digital Solution has a comprehensive offering for Diversity Hiring across all levels of experience. Specialized in Gender Diversity hiring for Leadership Talent; We help our clients build a diverse and inclusive leadership team. We are cultivating a niche in aiding diversity specific hiring goals and initiatives of the IT Services players, Product companies and Captives, more particularly implementing the best practices in the hiring approach towards diversity and inclusion in Corporate leadership across technical and functional roles with the shortest possible turn around time.