Businesswomen in India

By Deb Katula (Chicago)

Four Indian women are listed among the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women – two are in government, one is a self-made biotech powerhouse, and the other, Indra Nooyi, is the US-based CEO of Pepsico. Conspicuously missing are the women of India’s corporate sector.

In 1991, in an effort to combat widespread poverty, India undertook serious economic reforms, eschewing market controls and opening its economy to the world. The resulting multinational corporation mass entry into the market allowed women to enter and excel in non-traditional (i.e., not teaching or nursing), corporate professions and in banking and IT in particular.

While significant progress has been made for women in the Indian corporate world, there is a long way to go. According to a Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) source, only a handful of women sit on the boards of the 4,864 companies listed: currently only 4.9% of the 12,741 directors on the boards of these companies are women and, out of the top 100 companies listed on the BSE, only 34.7% of the directors are women.

As in most other countries, one reason for the comparatively low number of women at the top of corporations is the difficulty balancing work obligations with home obligations. In India, this is a particularly challenging issue as women are still primarily responsible for children and the home (including their in-law’s home life), whether or not they work outside the home.

The good news is that there are a handful of successful Indian businesswomen – women like Naina Lal Kidwai, Chief Executive Officer of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation India branches; Hewlett Packard’s Managing Director Neelam Dhawan; and Jayashree Vallal from Cisco Systems, among others. These are the women who are paving the way for a new generation of businesswomen, breaking free of traditional roles and cracking India’s corporate glass ceiling.

Opportunities for training and mentoring by these successful businesswomen will pave the way into the next decade, inspiring the next generation of young women. The role of women in top positions will continue to increase as their input and ideas are tapped to ensure the continued success of India’s economic future.