Women on the Board of Indian It Companies: Are They Audible and Visible?

Abstract

Gender disparity on the board of Indian IT companies is a continuing saga despite the Indian Companies Act, 2013 mandating at least one-woman director in the executive position of public listed companies. Women in India are leaders of varied sectors of businesses and on top leadership positions except in IT companies. This study has found that 14 out of 25 leading IT companies in India has, got not more than two women on the board of directors. It has also been found that the reasons for said nomination are due to the statutory compulsion to have women on board. Information technology companies are responsible for innovation, business growth, transformation and diversification. Strategic leadership is the key for IT companies to achieve the above-stated objectives. Inclusiveness in the economic reforms is possible when women are given adequate representation in entrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship and leadership positions in all sectors of industries. This study aims at examining the causes of the inadequate representation of women in Indian IT companies. Paper has examined the following issues to analyse the above-stated proposition: (a) How far the Indian IT industry has contributed to the empowerment of Indian women? (b) Whether the employment terms and recruitment policies of IT companies are sufficient to ensure the security of tenure and promotion to women employees and do it incentives women employees’ contribution towards innovation in their respective companies? (c) What are the factors contributing to women taking up leadership positions in Non-IT Industries? (d) Whether family commitments are the reasons for women in the IT sector to decline leadership positions or whether male domination is a cause for women to be backward in IT companies’ leadership positions? (e) Should mandatory reservation of adequate percentage of seats for women in administration be uniformly applied also for employment of women in the IT sector and how far the practice followed in developed jurisdictions need to be incorporated under the Indian lawLaw? Enrolment of women in IT and business education is on par with their counterparts. Since women occupying leadership positions is negligible, the paper examines the challenges and proposes solutions to ensure gender equitable reforms in the leadership roles of Indian IT companies. Data related to board composition and shareholding patterns of Indian IT companies are looked into and analysed to identify whether women possess capital or management control in the Indian IT companies. To critique the role of women in other sectors of employment with that of the IT companies, data collected from the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) and Indian government-sponsored schemes are considered. The data are also collected from various sources such as SustainabilitySustainability Reports of Wipro, Infosys, HCL, Dell, Accenture, Tata, Human Development Index (HDI), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). The data compiled reflect the factors that affect women’s career progression in the Indian IT sector. This study has found that there is an absolute imbalance in terms of gender diversity on the boards of Indian IT companies. Reasons for the same are as follows: 1. Women who have excelled in technological education are not willing to take up leadership positions in IT companies due to the challenges and risksRisk involved in this specific sector, 2. Family commitments and health issues are not conducive for women to dedicate the required time in managing corporate boards of IT companies, 3. Joint families and a patriarchal Indian system limits woman to undertake employment, 4. Women with liberal outlook and merit are not preferred as a choice by male leaders of IT companies due to the fact that they never want to be led by women, 5. The upskilling programmes organized by IT companies to their women employees are not sufficiently focused to promote women to leadership positions and 6. Excess share qualification for directorship prescribed by listed public companies is an impediment for women to be considered for executive positions. Paper suggests strategies and policies for the promotion of women employees to executive positions and ensuring the disclosure of diversity of corporate boards as a prerequisite to listing its shares. Secondly, it proposes to amend Companies Act, 2013 to prescribe a higher number of mandatory appointments of women on board to make it mandatory for women to be part of committees of the board mandated under the Companies Act. Thirdly, it proposes that the B-Schools admission policies should increase the intake of women candidates for management programmes so that they would possess the adequate competency to govern corporate boards of Indian IT companies.