Women in corporate boardrooms

Women are shattering the glass ceiling across industries and are proving their mettle in a male-dominated workforce. While there has been an increase in the number of women at the executive levels, only 10 per cent of women leaders surveyed by TimesJobs are sure of becoming CEOs in their career.

The survey titled 'Women in Corporate Boardrooms' was undertaken by 500 women leaders and 1,000 women professionals across various industries. This survey conducted to understand how corporates are gearing up to promote women employees for executive roles.

Career aspirations of working women: Realistic or unrealistic We asked women professionals across industries if they wanted to become the CEO of their company?

71 per cent of respondents expressed their desire to become the CEO of their company, and only 29 per cent of respondents said that they were not keen to become the CEO of their existing company.

Although, most respondents expressed the desire to become CEO of their company, when asked about the possibilities of this happening, only 10 per cent cited that they have a high probability of becoming the CEO. About 44 per cent said that they have a very marginal chance of becoming a CEO.

Is gender diversity still a big concern at the executive level?

'Women in Corporate Boardrooms' survey results reveal that companies are still apprehensive about hiring women at executive leadership positions.

Around 18 per cent of women professionals said that their organisations are not willing to hire women at senior leadership positions.

Of these, 60 per cent cite that challenges like marriage, maternity leaves, childbirth, etc. are a primary reason to not hire them at senior levels.

Although, a majority (81 per cent) of respondents revealed that their organisation encourages hiring women employees at executive levels.

The survey also unveiled that around 44 per cent of women leaders claimed that companies prefer hiring young women at executive positions. Around 29 per cent of respondents said that young women are only hired for supportive roles, followed by 27 per cent of respondents who believed that they are hired for operational roles.

"The findings of the survey reflect a positive trend for the hiring of women at senior leadership positions. Today, organisations look for competencies that make a leader and are therefore looking to eliminate gender biases while hiring and promotion.

In the coming future, diversity will become a core focus area for organisations as it is a key driver of performance for any organisation," said Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, business head, TimesJobs and TechGig.

Changing composition of boardrooms

Around 52 per cent of industry leaders said that they have an equal number of men and women at the executive level.

Despite the fact, 42 per cent of respondents said that their existing workforce at executive levels includes more men and lesser women.

As per 42 per cent of respondents, the healthcare sector has the highest number of women employees at the executive positions.

While the IT sector and BPO sector have the second and the third highest number of women working at senior positions