Marquee companies employ less than
2% women in their workforce
India Inc itself doesn't fare much
better. In FY15, women comprise 18% of the workforce of Nifty companies, a
study by ET Intelligence Group reveals. Excluding IT companies and banks, the
proportion drops to 7% for the rest. 46 Nifty companies have reported these
numbers for the last fiscal, as part of their business responsibility
reporting.
“Gender diversity in India does not
get the place it deserves,“ says Bino Paul, professor and dean, School of
Management and Labour Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences. “There is a
need for change in culture from campuses to workplaces. It cannot only be
incentive based. Such a change is possible if there is a large mandate coming
either from business leaders or industry associations. For instance, a common
code of conduct can be mooted by industry associations,” says Paul. “Firstly,
on the supply side, the gender ratio in different sectors is skewed in India.
For instance, household chores are predominantly performed by women. Secondly,
on the demand side, Indian companies and proprietary firms have historically
been masculine in nature and value system with diversity not being much
appreciated,“ adds Paul.
“It is not that companies are not
giving opportunities to women, it is the woman and her family who more often
than not determine the scope of her career,” says Usha Ananthasubramanian,
managing director and CEO of Punjab National Bank and former chairperson of
Bharatiya Mahila Bank. “There is no quota for women in PSUs. But because of
their wider presence in the country, they have better access to hiring women
across the country,“ explains Ananthasubramanian.
Hero MotoCorp's spokesperson said,
“With Hero MotoCorp increasingly turning global in its operations, we have
undertaken a robust initiative to enhance gender diversity...This not only
involves reviewing our talent attraction and retention strategies, systems and
procedures, but also drawing out tiered leadership development mantel for women
employees. We have also been engaging in coaching and mentoring women staff to
take up leadership positions.“
ET VIEW Hire More Women for India to
Grow
Source:Oct 30 2015 :
The Economic Times (Bangalore) It's Time Corporate
India Does a Gender Rethink Kiran Somvanshi
