‘Only 17% of senior roles held by women’

New Delhi India is the third lowest in the proportion of business leadership roles held by women for the third year consecutively, according to a global survey by consulting firm Grant Thornton, released today.

According to the report titled Women in business: New perspectives on risk and reward, just 17% of senior roles are held by women in India. Only 7% of the senior management (CEO/ managing director) roles were held by women in India. The most common roles held by women in India companies are of human resources director (25%) and corporate controller (18%).

The survey that covers 5,500 businesses in 36 economies also reveals that 41% of the Indian businesses have no women in leadership roles, which is seven points higher than the last year.

According to the report, globally, developing regions continue to lead the charge on diversity with developed economies lagging behind. Eastern Europe performs best, with 38% of senior roles held by women in 2017 and just 9% of businesses with no women in senior management.

Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey registered improvement, the report shows. The proportion of senior roles held by women rising from 24% in 2016 to 28% in 2017 and the percentage of businesses with no women in senior management falling from 36% in 2016 to 27% in 2017.