To be fair, there are some positives from the initiatives aimed at bringing more women into the workforce. A report by LONGHOUSE Consulting showed that 39% of the companies surveyed employed women in CXO positions. This overshot the global average of 32%.
The report — The State of Women Leadership Hiring in India — was based on internal talent data, career portals of employers, and year-on-year hiring trends. It said that some CXO roles had a higher percentage of women: 40% for chief financial officer (CFO) positions and 50% for HR director positions in India.
Another key positive trend it highlighted was that the year-on-year women’s representation in executive boards increased by 2% in 2023. Currently, women hold 12% of the board seats in India. Challenges that need to be addressed
Despite these encouraging trends, it said the share of women in senior-level positions remained at 20% in 2023, because of lower experience levels. The LONGHOUSE report highlighted that women at the mid-managerial level aspiring for leadership roles encountered various challenges, often resulting in career stagnation or departure from employment. About 80% of working women in India have taken career breaks, with 45% citing childcare and personal commitments in homemaking as the primary reasons. The challenges they face include resume gaps, skills obsolescence, lack of confidence, bias, stereotypes and lack of support. Some companies were taking initiatives to bring about changes like extended childcare leave policies, remote and flexible working culture, gender-neutral caregiver leaves for new parents, upskilling opportunities and more.Contrast between rhetoric and action
There was a significant contrast between rhetoric and action in gender diversity initiatives in corporate India, said a report by the Udaiti Foundation (TUF) in its report, Women in India Inc (WIIn) HR Managers Survey. The report released earlier this month was brought out in collaboration with the Center for Economic Data & Analysis (CEDA).
The analysis showed that 34% of women exit firms over work-life balance, compared with just 4% of men. It also said despite 73% of surveyed organisations setting gender diversity goals, only 21% have supporting strategies. While 55% of the firms set goals for womens’ advancement, only 37% tackled gender imbalances in hiring. It also highlighted legal compliance gaps: 59% of firms lacked the mandatory internal complaints committee; 37% did not provide maternity leave benefits and only 17.5% provided childcare benefits.
Steps to removing gender bias in hiring
The Udaiti report highlighted that career breaks diminish women’s selection chances by 24 percentage points. Some of the issues it highlighted included instances such as hiring managers being more likely to consider a female applicant’s marital status and age when considering her for a role, and women with career breaks facing challenges while returning to work.
It suggested that companies start bringing about changes right at the start of the hiring stage.
The goal is to attract a diverse pool of applicants and to promote equality and inclusiveness in the hiring process; so a gender-neutral job description is necessary, it said.
A job listing should be written in a way that it did not favour any gender. Avoid gender-coded words, such as ‘aggressive’ (often associated with male stereotypes) or ‘supportive’ (often associated with female stereotypes), and use inclusive language to ensure that the job appeals to all candidates, regardless of their gender, it suggested.
Udaiti’s other recommendations to reduce unconscious bias included having a mixed-gender interview panel to ensure diverse perspectives in a candidate assessment process; and using resume screening software to automate the process and filter applicants based on keywords and skills.