Girls in Management Are Key for Indian Firms, But Inclusion Stays Low, ETCFO
Whereas gender range in company India has improved in some areas, a brand new report exhibits that true inclusion nonetheless has an extended solution to go. The Marching Sheep Inclusion Index 2025, which studied 840 listed corporations throughout 30 sectors, discovered that corporations with extra girls in management positions delivered 50% increased revenue after tax (PAT). Nevertheless, the information additionally exhibits that girls stay underrepresented in key decision-making roles.
Management range linked to higher monetary efficiency
The report consists of corporations from sectors resembling metal, pharma, BFSI, FMCG, and IT. It discovered that organisations with increased gender range at management ranges are inclined to carry out higher financially. This, the report says, confirms that inclusion isn’t just the precise factor to do, it additionally makes enterprise sense.
The examine brings out clear indicators of progress, together with improved hiring and compliance-driven board-level range. Nevertheless it additionally highlights the necessity to strengthen inner techniques that assist girls develop into management roles.
Most corporations lack girls in key roles
One of many report’s important findings is that 63.45% of the surveyed corporations had no girls in Key Managerial Positions (KMPs). Girls make up solely 22% of the whole workforce in these corporations, a determine decrease than the 28% recorded within the Periodic City Labour Pressure Survey (2023–24).
Whereas girls are effectively represented at entry stage and have some presence on boards, the center administration layer, crucial for constructing future leaders, stays skinny. The report refers to this sample as an “hourglass impact,” displaying a pointy drop in illustration at mid-career ranges.
This hole means that whereas hiring practices have improved, corporations might lack sturdy insurance policies to assist profession development and retention for girls.
Inclusion should be structural, not symbolic
Sonica Aron, Founder and Managing Companion of Marching Sheep, mentioned: “We don’t simply want extra girls within the room; we’d like them on the desk, influencing choices and shaping technique,” she mentioned.
She added that inclusion should transcend illustration. “The enterprise case is closed. The decision to motion is pressing; hear deeply, act decisively, and reimagine management to replicate the world we really stay in,” she mentioned.
The report additionally stresses that gender range helps construct organisational resilience. It says inclusion shouldn’t be handled as a box-ticking train underneath CSR however seen as a core worth. With out addressing inner techniques of entry, energy, and accountability, the report warns, efforts towards inclusion might stay surface-level.
