The Business Case for Gender Diversity in the Indian Information Technology Industry

Abstract

For attracting, motivating and retaining their female workforce, organisations in India have been utilising the discourse on the business case for gender diversity to adopt various women-friendly initiatives. The non-existent regulatory environment provides a unique opportunity to explore what the discourse on the business case for gender diversity constitutes in the Indian context. However, it remains unclear whether the business case for diversity is effective in improving the status of women employees in Indian workplaces. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with top management representatives across 31 different organisations in the Indian information technology industry. Thematic analysis revealed that organisations value gender diversity owing to the different leadership styles, and higher commitment and productivity levels of the female employees. It emerged that leaders are using stereotypes associated with women while delineating the business case for gender diversity. However, they are inadvertently denying women equal opportunities for growth and treating them unequally as the merit definitions continue to uphold masculine attributes, and this chapter shows that hidden inequalities continue to persist in a gender-neutral industry.