WE is supposed to initiate an inspiring change in society and has attracted international attention. In fact, in 1997, the General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed – 8th March as International Women’s Day. In India, women empowerment is gaining attention yet not improving conditions of women at the ground level.
A close look at the extent of the role of women on the Board of Directors of Indian Companies bears testimony to the limited presence of females. Around 2015, when corporates in India were literally driven to the wall with threats of punitive action, for inadequate women representation, companies started appointing women on their board.
An analysis of leading companies revealed that only five companies had as many as three women Directors on their Boards whose size ranged from 7 to 17 members. It was also found that public sector companies were in no way contributing to WE with respect to board appointments. Thus, none of the leading State enterprises had, at that time, any women on their respective boards. Coming to the issue of top women in the field of finance, we find only a handful of them viz. Ms. Arundhati Bhattacharya, Ms. Chanda Kochhar, Ms. KakuNakhate, Ms. Shikha Sharma andMs. Usha Ananthasubramanian. Of course, there are few other women at the helm of affairs of different organisation in the field of Finance. A recent study of Bloomberg (Anuchit Nguyen – Business Standard dated 9th March, 2017) about Thailand showed that women account for more than 55% of Thailand’s Finance and Insurance Workforce and women comprise 31% of Board and Executive committee members in the financial services sector. This is regarded as the highest proportion in the world after Norway and Sweden. In fact, the US position in this behalf indicates that the representation of women is just about 20% in top positions in the financial services sector.
Research has shown that men perhaps feel that financial industry work is rather boring. Financial jobs require a different kind of mind-set and profile which includes attention to detail, caution, patience and perseverance with respect to rule compliance. In Thailand, women lead Asia in Finance roles. While Norway, Sweden and Thailand are on top of the pyramid of WE with respect to financial sector, India, China, South Korea and Japan are at the bottom.
The only gratifying factor is, India is at the top of the pyramid of the said four countries of Asia. In Thailand, WE in the financial sector was a result of a spontaneous response of females entering the financial sector and rising to the top unlike in Norway, Sweden and other parts of Europe which had introduced quotas (30%) for women for Board appointments. MMS/MBA female students who have taken finance as their area of special interest and female teachers in finance should take note of this trend of women in the financial sector, around the globe and equip themselves with adequate academic and professional credentials, of international standard, which can help them to climb the ladders of success fast. In time to come, with ample female students in the MMS-MBA courses, taking finance, and many women entering the teaching profession in management, we hope India will be able to go ahead of many other countries in the world including, perhaps, Thailand.
Women in India may be the preponderant gender in the financial sector industry not merely in our country but in the World at large. I eagerly look forward for such a sea change to take place given the large numbers of females in business schools as teachers and students in the area of finance. Of course, a caveat is in order. This does not mean that females who have not opted for finance cannot enter the financial sector or cannot rise to the top. However, spontaneous response of females to this sector can create a new wave in favour of women empowerment. Undoubtedly, men must be mentally prepared to face the impending change and be ready for stiff, but fair, inter-gender competition. I hope gender equality in favour of women, as a thought, loses its vogue because women will hold the fort and rule the waves of the financial sector. The question in the future may then be gender equality, for whom and in whose favour!!!
Source - Dr.Guruprasad Murthy
Professor-Director-General, DR VN BRIMS
For More Information about MBA/MMS Admission 2017 Mumbai Contact us at (+91) 2536 4492 OR 2544 6554 or
Email us at - vnbrims@vpmthane.org