Women CEOs: India Inc beats US hands down

Gender imbalances continue to prevail in corporate boardrooms across the world, but the situation is much better in our country if the number of women CEOs that India Inc has is any indication--nearly four times more than that of the US--a survey says.

Gender imbalances continue to prevail in corporate boardrooms across the world, but the situation is much better in our country if the number of women CEOs that India Inc has is any indication--nearly four times more than that of the US--a survey says.

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According to a survey by international executive research firm, EMA Partners International, around 11 per cent of Indian companies have women CEOs, while in the case of Fortune 500 list from the US, the women CEOs just account for three per cent of the total consideration set.

"In the backdrop of the Fortune 500 numbers, the Indian results certainly look a lot better, though on a standalone basis, it is clear that barring financial services, other industries have a log way to catch up," Fortune 500 list said in the survey.

In India, the survey was carried out among 240 mid and large domestic as well as MNCs. The companies were selected on the basis of revenues and market capitalisation among others. The survey was conducted in November.

Globally, on an average, about three per cent of top CEOs are women, which is quite unrepresentative, given the fact that roughly half the population are females and around 50 per cent of the staff are also females in most markets.

According to the EMA Partners estimates, over 25 per cent of the executives are women in Germany, more than 30 per cent in Britain, while this is 35 per cent in France.