Editorial 1: Women in corporate leadership, the lived reality

Context

In the run-up to International Women’s Day, commentaries on some of the key issues in the gender space. Policy changes in the United States highlight the challenges and the barriers to increasing women’s participation in the corporate workforce; these have global relevance

Introduction

Once again, the world will celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025 and companies will attempt to showcase steps taken toward the inclusion and the increase of women in the workforce. Yet, the lived reality of women in or trying to enter the corporate workforce is starkly different.

• The recent instance of rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes in the United States federal government, which also encourages the private sector to end DEI preference hirings, highlights the challenges and the barriers to increasing women’s participation in the workforce.
• Women, who comprise 48% of corporate America’s workforce, are reeling from the aftershock of this order and are now facing the threat of identity erasure.

A ripple effect

• Beyond the United States: It may be easy to brush aside this order as an issue that plagues only the United States.
• Severe Repercussions: The effects of a dip in DEI hirings and women’s exclusion can have severe repercussions in today’s globally connected world.
• Global Significance: Regardless of location, conversations about women’s participation in the corporate workforce remain significant.

DEI and Workforce Participation

• Limited Impact on Leadership: While DEI may simply be a corporate mechanism to make small inroads into women’s participation, it has not significantly increased women’s leadership roles.
• Historical Marginalization in India: In India, women have been historically marginalised from the workforce and comprise about 35.9% of the worker population ratio.
• Low Representation in Leadership: At the senior and middle management levels, women account for only 12.7% of leadership roles as of 2024.

Challenges and Perceptions of DEI

• Viewed as Tokenism: It is easy to brush aside DEI as a fabricated gesture of tokenism, where women are seen as an obligation rather than earning their place on merit.
• Role in Creating Opportunities: While DEI may help women make an in-road into leadership roles, their ability to consolidate their position depends on performance.
• Normalization of Women in Workforce: Successful performance can further normalize the presence of women at all levels of the workforce.

The effect of legal mandates

• Increase in Senior-Level Presence: Over the past decade, Indian legal mandates have helped increase women’s presence in the corporate workforce.
• Companies Act, 2013: The Companies Act, 2013 mandated that at least one-woman director be placed on the board of certain public limited companies.
• SEBI Mandate, 2015: In 2015, SEBI required that at least one independent woman director be appointed to the board of India’s top 1000 listed companies.
• Gender Diversity Best Practices: Due to these legal mandates, companies are attempting to uphold best practices in gender diversity.
• Threefold Increase in Women Directors: The inclusion of women directors in NSE 500 listed companies has risen from 5% in 2011 to 18% in 2023.

Benefits of Women in Leadership Roles

• Enhanced Talent Pool: The presence of women in leadership expands the available talent pool.
• Informational Diversity: Women provide informational diversity gained from different educational and career trajectories.
• Democratic Leadership Style: Women offer a participative, democratic leadership style that stimulates robust discussion and drives better decision-making.
• Stakeholder Commitment and Strategy: Women foster greater stakeholder commitment and assist in formulating strategies that address stakeholder concerns.
• Improved Corporate Oversight: Women enhance monitoring, human capital management, and communication channels, increasing corporate accountability and reducing risks.

Corporate Recognition and Optics Perspective

• Better Corporate Reputation: Companies with more women in leadership appear on lists of the most admired and ethical companies.
• Optics and Virtuous Cycle: Gender diversity enhances corporate reputation and creates a virtuous cycle of benefits.

Key Areas Where Women Leaders Add Value

• Corporate Governance: Women strengthen corporate governance and oversight.
• Strategic Oversight: They bring strategic proposition oversight and improved decision-making.
• Risk Management: Women contribute to risk management and corporate stability.
• Stakeholder and Shareholder Value: They enhance shareholder and stakeholder engagement.
• Gender and Social Impact: Women improve gender and society inclusivity.
• Environmental Responsibility: They drive environmental responsibility, contributing to corporate sustainability and economic parity.

What real change is

Token Participation vs. Genuine Leadership

• Superficial Gender Diversity: Some companies use token participation of women to show commitment to gender diversity in the workplace.
• True Corporate Leadership: Women are truly effective leaders when given actual power and responsibility, not just appointed to serve the agenda of male benefactors.
• Key Leadership Positions: A greater number of C-Suite/KMPs (top executives and Key Managerial Personnel), independent directors, and chairpersons in board committees must be women to ensure real leadership.
• Equal Pay as an Indicator: Remuneration at parity with male counterparts is a key indicator of genuine and robust participation of women in the corporate workforce.

Steps for Strengthening Women’s Participation

• Celebrating Progress: While there is much to celebrate on Women’s Day, there is still work to be done.
• Role of Companies and Regulators: Companies and regulators must take significant steps to ensure strongwomen’s participation in leadership.
• Beyond Tokenism: Women’s leadership must contribute meaningfully to corporate governance, rather than being a token concept for stakeholder approval.
• Recognizing Benefits Over Politics: Women’s workforce participation should be promoted for its benefits and should not fall victim to the dominant political narrative.

Conclusion

The issue of women in the corporate workforce, especially on company boards, is of great significance and merits deep research into various facets. Thought Arbitrage is undertaking such a study which maps the patterns of women on corporate boards by using qualitative and quantitative research methodologies over a 10-year period, involving about 1,000 companies.

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Editorial 2: Beyond ‘Beijing’, unlocking a feminist future in India

Context

In the run-up to International Women’s Day, commentaries on some of the key issues in the gender space. As India continues its journey toward gender equality, the Beijing Platform for Action remains a guiding framework.

Introduction

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action is one of the most comprehensive global blueprints for advancing women’s rights. India’s progress on gender equality stands as a testament to sustained policy efforts, grassroots movements, and the resilience of women and girls.

• The Beijing meeting, in 1995, brought together world leaders and 17,000 delegates from 189 countries to agree on a road map to accelerate women’s equality through 12 critical “areas of concern”.
• More than 200 Indian women were in attendance along with the Government of India.
• The areas of concern included poverty reduction, education and training, health, violence against women, women’s economic empowerment and influence in decision making.
• The past three decades have witnessed remarkable strides in many of these dimensions.

Visible evidence of change

• Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana: The expansion of maternal health care under initiatives such as the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan and the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana has increased institutional deliveries to 95%.
• Maternal Mortality Reduction: Maternal mortality has dropped from 130 to 97 deaths per 1,00,000 birthsbetween 2014 and 2020 (Sample Registration System data).
• Use of Modern Contraceptives: Today, over half of married women (56.5%) choose to use modern contraceptives, giving them greater control over their reproductive health.
• Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana: The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, the world’s largest government-funded health-care scheme, has provided millions of women with free access to critical medical treatment.

Education and Gender Equality

• Education as a Core Pillar: Education, a core pillar of the Beijing Platform for Action, has seen notable progress.
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) Initiative: The ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ (BBBP) initiative has played a pivotal role in improving the child sex ratio and increasing school enrolments for girls.
• National Education Policy 2020: The National Education Policy 2020 has paved the way for higher retention rates and opportunities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
• Safety Concerns in Higher Secondary Education: Though safety concerns in higher secondary education remain in some places, the Ministry of Education has integrated education with skills development and life skills training, charting flexible and inclusive pathways for adolescents.
• UNICEF Support: UNICEF has been able to provide support in increasing linkages with broader support systems — improved sanitation reducing menstruation-related absences.

Women’s Economic Empowerment

• Central Role in Gender-Equality Agenda: Women’s economic empowerment has been central to India’s gender-equality agenda.
• National Rural and Urban Livelihood Missions: Through the National Rural and Urban Livelihood Missions, nearly 100 million women have been connected to financial networks via self-help groups, fostering entrepreneurship and financial independence.
• Unified Payments Interface (UPI): The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has revolutionised financial transactions, with women increasingly using digital platforms for savings and investments.
• Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihood Mission: The Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihood Mission has empowered over 100 million rural women through access to credit, livelihood opportunities, and financial literacy programmes.
• Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan: The Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan has trained over 35 million rural women in digital literacy, ensuring that they are not left behind in the digital revolution.
• Bridging the Digital Gender Divide: Bridging the digital gender divide has helped women participate in the digital economy.

Gender-Responsive Budgeting

• Increased Financial Support for Women’s Empowerment: India has increasingly financed women’s empowerment through gender-responsive budgeting.
• Gender Budget Increase: The share of the Gender Budget in the total national Budget has increased from 6.8% in 2024-25 to 8.8% in 2025-26; $55.2 billion is allocated toward gender-specific programmes.
• UN Women Support: UN Women has been able to provide support for these government efforts.

The shadow of violence

• Persistent Challenge: Gender-based violence remains a challenge despite the Beijing Declaration’s call for ending violence against women.
• One Stop Centres: The establishment of 770 One Stop Centres has provided essential medical, legal, and psychological support to survivors of violence.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023: The introduction of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, which came into effect in July 2024, strengthens legal protections and improves women’s safety and justice.
• Innovative Blockchain System: A blockchain-based system in Odisha ensures that survivors receive swift, confidential, and coordinated support.
• Gender-Responsive Policing: Partnerships such as the one between the United Nations Population Fund and the Rajasthan Police Academy have enhanced gender-responsive policing, building survivor trust, and expanding access to justice.

Leadership of Young Women

• Driving Change: A powerful force for change lies in the leadership of young women.
• Diverse Contributions: From climate action to digital entrepreneurship, young leaders are redefining gender roles.
• Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI) Project: The GATI project promotes women in STEM.
• G20 TechEquity Platform: The G20 TechEquity platform has trained thousands of young women in emerging technologies, showcasing their potential.

Women’s Role in India’s Transformation

• Key Role in Development: Women have played a pivotal role in India’s transformation, driving change in various fields.
• Contributions Across Sectors: Women are making an impact in technology and entrepreneurship, governance, and social development.
• Women’s Reservation Bill: The Women’s Reservation Bill guarantees 33% legislative representation, building on local governance successes.
• Largest Cohort of Women Political Leaders: The bill has empowered close to 1.5 million women leaders, making it the largest cohort of women political leaders in the world.

A guiding framework

• The 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration reinforces that gender equality is not just a women’s issue.
• It is a global imperative. India’s progress has been propelled by strong government leadership and capable partners, both local and global.
• Strengthening collaborations, investing in young women’s leadership, and addressing systemic barriers will be key to accelerating action and progress.
• The Beijing Platform for Action remains a guiding framework as India continues its journey toward gender equality.

Conclusion

With an unwavering commitment to women-led development, financial inclusion, and social transformation, India is setting a global benchmark for inclusive and sustainable growth — one that is needed in the world today, now more than ever.