Just one in 10 executive directors is a woman: Study, HR News, ETHRWorld

Women in executive director roles comprise a mere 10% of the executive director cohort on the top 200 listed companies, despite growing efforts by Indian corporations to strengthen diversity at the leadership levels, according to an analysis by executive search and leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates.

This compares with a higher proportion of women as independent directors, which stand at 27%, primarily due to the regulatory mandate of at least one independent woman director on a listed board, according to Russell Reynolds Associates NSE Top 200 board analysis based on data collected from PRIME database.

D Shivakumar, operating partner at PE firm Advent International, said the top 200 boards should be the role models for others. “The chairman of the board and the hiring committee must make it their personal legacy to bring more talented women directors. This will need them to be open to accepting people who are different from them in thinking,” he said.

“Out of the total independent directors on boards, 27% are women. Out of the total executive directors on boards, 10% are women. Overall, about 19% total board members are women,” said Sanjay Kapoor, managing director and lead Board & CEO Advisory in India at Russell Reynolds Associates.

According to the data, 54% of board members…