<p>Reji Varghese and Madhuri Menon</p>.<p class="bodytext">“That’s not the way a girl sits,” “what a mess you make while eating,” — these are just a few of the statements made to the daughter, while the son is allowed to make, as well as leave the mess he has made. As the daughter grows older, the internalising of messages becomes more subtle and nuanced, but the intent is clear — there are strict codes and expectations of gender-based behaviour.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Across cultures, stereotypes are established early, right from the choice of colour: pink for girls and blue for boys. Girls are expected to be docile, subordinate, sweet and permitted to cry. Boys are told not to “cry like a girl.” Multiple generations of women have learned these lessons which create self-doubt and self-imposed limitations and a belief that authority belongs to men. The result is that Indian businesses face difficulties in promoting women to leadership positions in spite of having a large female workforce.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to psychologist Dr Trinjhna Khattar, “Marriage, parenthood, caring for young children or ageing parents bring competing priorities. After years in the workforce, many women begin to question their purpose. Social conditioning still expects women to be nurturers making it much harder for them to handle a demanding job, compared to men.”</p>.Why women still lose at the salary table.<p class="bodytext">Explains Dr Khattar, “One of the common gender stereotypes around women’s employment world over is that women don’t aspire to leadership roles. When young women join organisations right after college, they are bubbling with energy and raring to go. At this stage, they are on par with men. However, society reinforces stereotypical roles such as the perfect daughter, wife, mother and daughter in law. When this is coupled with efforts to be the perfect employee as well, there is not just role incongruity, but also high levels of stress.”</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Women and the workforce</p>.<p class="bodytext">Explains Priya Ramesh, co-founder of a Chennai-based leadership coaching, development, and empowerment firm and a Master Certified Coach (MCC), “Women leave their jobs at higher rates between ages 25 and 40 because they experience multiple life changes, which include getting married, starting a family and caring for their children, in-laws and elderly parents. Women face special challenges during this life stage because of traditional social norms and expectations and often lack of support systems within the family or externally — for instance, absence of reliable day-care facilities, domestic help, affordable professional health care support providers etc.”</p>.<p class="bodytext">A joint study by LinkedIn and The Quantum Hub found that although women make up 26.8 per cent of the Indian workforce, only 18.3 per cent manage to reach senior leadership roles. The disparity grows sharper at the very top. The KPMG–AIMA Women in Leadership in Corporate India 2024 report shows that women hold a mere 12 per cent of C-suite roles nationwide, which places India among the lowest globally for executive-level gender parity. The study also found that 56 per cent of organisations have only between 10 and 30 per cent women in leadership, while nearly 9 per cent of companies have no female leaders at all.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An HR advisory firm, Marching Sheep, released an Inclusion Index in 2025, which analysed 840 listed companies across 30 sectors and found that organisations with women in top leadership roles achieved 50 per cent higher profit-after-tax results compared to those without. Yet, 63.45 per cent of these companies had no women in key managerial positions, and women formed just 22 per cent of their total workforce. </p>.<p class="CrossHead">Closing the gender gap</p>.<p class="bodytext">Even HR policies in organisations can be subtly discriminating. Women are usually promoted by proven capability while men are promoted on potential. If India is serious about tapping into its full talent pool, women’s participation must go beyond token representation. Closing this gap calls for a reimagining of leadership itself, and a shift from hierarchy to inclusivity.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><span class="italic">(Reji Varghese is the president of a fixture building company. Madhuri Menon is the former dean of non-profit engaged in research, training, capacity building and academics.)</span> </p>
<p>Reji Varghese and Madhuri Menon</p>.<p class="bodytext">“That’s not the way a girl sits,” “what a mess you make while eating,” — these are just a few of the statements made to the daughter, while the son is allowed to make, as well as leave the mess he has made. As the daughter grows older, the internalising of messages becomes more subtle and nuanced, but the intent is clear — there are strict codes and expectations of gender-based behaviour.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Across cultures, stereotypes are established early, right from the choice of colour: pink for girls and blue for boys. Girls are expected to be docile, subordinate, sweet and permitted to cry. Boys are told not to “cry like a girl.” Multiple generations of women have learned these lessons which create self-doubt and self-imposed limitations and a belief that authority belongs to men. The result is that Indian businesses face difficulties in promoting women to leadership positions in spite of having a large female workforce.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to psychologist Dr Trinjhna Khattar, “Marriage, parenthood, caring for young children or ageing parents bring competing priorities. After years in the workforce, many women begin to question their purpose. Social conditioning still expects women to be nurturers making it much harder for them to handle a demanding job, compared to men.”</p>.Why women still lose at the salary table.<p class="bodytext">Explains Dr Khattar, “One of the common gender stereotypes around women’s employment world over is that women don’t aspire to leadership roles. When young women join organisations right after college, they are bubbling with energy and raring to go. At this stage, they are on par with men. However, society reinforces stereotypical roles such as the perfect daughter, wife, mother and daughter in law. When this is coupled with efforts to be the perfect employee as well, there is not just role incongruity, but also high levels of stress.”</p>.<p class="CrossHead">Women and the workforce</p>.<p class="bodytext">Explains Priya Ramesh, co-founder of a Chennai-based leadership coaching, development, and empowerment firm and a Master Certified Coach (MCC), “Women leave their jobs at higher rates between ages 25 and 40 because they experience multiple life changes, which include getting married, starting a family and caring for their children, in-laws and elderly parents. Women face special challenges during this life stage because of traditional social norms and expectations and often lack of support systems within the family or externally — for instance, absence of reliable day-care facilities, domestic help, affordable professional health care support providers etc.”</p>.<p class="bodytext">A joint study by LinkedIn and The Quantum Hub found that although women make up 26.8 per cent of the Indian workforce, only 18.3 per cent manage to reach senior leadership roles. The disparity grows sharper at the very top. The KPMG–AIMA Women in Leadership in Corporate India 2024 report shows that women hold a mere 12 per cent of C-suite roles nationwide, which places India among the lowest globally for executive-level gender parity. The study also found that 56 per cent of organisations have only between 10 and 30 per cent women in leadership, while nearly 9 per cent of companies have no female leaders at all.</p>.<p class="bodytext">An HR advisory firm, Marching Sheep, released an Inclusion Index in 2025, which analysed 840 listed companies across 30 sectors and found that organisations with women in top leadership roles achieved 50 per cent higher profit-after-tax results compared to those without. Yet, 63.45 per cent of these companies had no women in key managerial positions, and women formed just 22 per cent of their total workforce. </p>.<p class="CrossHead">Closing the gender gap</p>.<p class="bodytext">Even HR policies in organisations can be subtly discriminating. Women are usually promoted by proven capability while men are promoted on potential. If India is serious about tapping into its full talent pool, women’s participation must go beyond token representation. Closing this gap calls for a reimagining of leadership itself, and a shift from hierarchy to inclusivity.</p>.<p class="bodytext"><span class="italic">(Reji Varghese is the president of a fixture building company. Madhuri Menon is the former dean of non-profit engaged in research, training, capacity building and academics.)</span> </p>
