Why 11% of CEOs of Indian Companies are Women

Interesting numbers from India to look at:

• 30% of women work
• 10% of women 18-23 are in higher education 
• 11% of CEOs (I assume of Indian companies) are women compared to 3% of Fortune 500 in the US

I got these stats from an interesting article about the ambitions of Indian women in the workplace. According to a study done by, The Center for Work Life Policy, Indian women are more ambitious than their American counterparts despite facing serious overt discrimination that American women do not have to deal with. For instance, 52% of respondents felt unsafe traveling to and from work for fear of being raped or kidnapped. I feel it's safe to say that kidnapping is not a threat that American women have to negotiate in their day to day commutes or rape for that matter (even though rape is a very serious threat to women everywhere). 73% of respondents experience societal disproval for traveling alone to work even though 80% felt that working internationally was vital to their careers.

All in all, it's clear that India women face overt discrimination that American women generally do not and yet 80% of Indian women surveyed want to rise to the top, compared to 52% of American women.

Here are my thoughts on some possible explanations:

• Are the Indian women who were surveyed and found working, members of a higher and therefore more privileged class within Indian society?

-I think yes, when I think of the continued impact of the caste system. While there is a class system in the United States, 55% of all American women go on to higher education and 59% of American women are in the labor force. The smaller percentage of Indian women who work could be a result of class privileges, where legacy and success could be more important family traditions/values that are handed down to each generation.

• If the working female population of India come from privileged classes, do privileged Indian women have access to inexpensive childcare and homecare? 

-41% of India's huge population live below the global poverty line and there is a vast gap between the rich and poor in India, which creates an economic environment for cheap labor. When I lived overseas in Bangladesh, we had live-in servants and nannies because my family could afford them and both of my parents worked. When we lived in the States, we could not afford the same and my mom did stay home for a portion of that time. Coincidently the report cited that elder care is more of a workplace barrier to Indian women than childcare. Still, if Indian women do not have to worry about childcare during their primary career building years, which also coincide with the years when their children would be younger and require more constant care, I think it's no far stretch to see this peace of mind translate into professional ambition. Many studies have shown that productivity goes way up when parents, especially women, know their children are safe and cared for while they are away at the office.

What does this mean for US women?
The U.S. could benefit from greater family-friendly policies. It's no coincidence that countries with greater gender parity face decreasing populations. Women are choosing to work on their careers before starting families or choose not to have careers in order to raise a family. In these systems, women are forced to make a choice. Examples of this are all over Northern Europe and the U.S. One exception to this rule is France, where families enjoy many state-run programs that care for children. French women, therefore, do not face the duality of choosing between family and career as U.S. women do. I won't even mention the differing cultural attitudes towards work/life balance between the U.S. and France.  Interestingly, the U.S. seems to be a place where women, more often will choose their families over their careers. I only say this because we have such a low percentage of women in high political and business positions as well as one of the highest birth rates of all developed Western nations.

But I also wonder if there is a way for private enterprises to take on this challenge as well? For instance, I could see that having more paternity leave could be a great way to create better gender parity by private institutions as well as business cultures that expect both their male and female workers to be family oriented. My mother, who lives in New Delhi, finds the culture there to be extremely family oriented and that family values pervade every aspect of Indian society. I want to caution that family shouldn't just be relegated to the realm of women, as it traditionally has in American society...but in my research, it seems that family often gets in the way for American women in the work place.

Ok, this post is getting too long. In the end, I think we all need to understand how to keep the kind of focus that this chicken seems to be able to succeed at doing:





More stats on US women.