Standard Chartered Bank: Women on Corporate Boards in India 2010

PART 2: WOMEN DIRECTORS SPEAK
“A healthy mix is very important for a better boardroom and for better corporate governance
procedures.”
2.2.1 Obstacles to <strong>Women</strong> on Boards
We asked the women why they thought there were not more women on the boards of the BSE-100 companies. A variety of
reasons were identified.
<strong>Women</strong> in India are juggling career and family
One of the key themes that emerged was that women in India need to juggle their career with their family responsibilities.
Family duties remain, according to all the women interviewed, the number one perceived and actual responsibility of women
in India. This means that until the family is taken care of, there is little capacity for working women to commit to leadership
roles. Indeed, as some of the women highlighted time constraints are a real issue:
“To serve on a board requires a lot of time.”
The findings of this study reveal that the average age of all the female directors on the BSE-100 and the women interviewed is
over 50. It was highlighted that by this time women are relatively less burdened by their family duties as their children tend to
be more “settled” (i.e. of adolescent age). In one woman’s view:
“<strong>Women</strong> peak 10 years later than men because of family duties.”
This quote is particularly interesting because actually our research in Part 1 of this report highlights that female directors in
India are on average younger than their male peers.
Many women talked about the limited flexibility offered in the workplace by Indian companies and pointed to this as an
obstacle to women’s career progression once they have children. Interesting this was noted by women from all age groups,
most stating that options to work from home or flexible working hours tend to be few and far between:
“[There is a] lack of flexibility in working patterns offered to employees.”
One executive director who had studied and worked in the US and learned about workplace flexibility from her time abroad
said how she still found it incredibly difficult to address the issue of flexibility for her staff in India. As work-life balance
practices are not institutionalised in her company in India, she tends to address the work-life balance of her staff on a case by
case basis.
Mid-career guilt and drop out
A couple of the women highlighted that many professional women in India experience guilt during their mid-career about
neglecting their family. At this point many fall off the corporate ladder or “opt out”. As one director said:
“Unfortunately, there are two points in a woman’s life when they have to take a decision ridden by
guilt and circumstances. One, when they have babies initially. Second if they have a child in class 9
and 10 - just before school leaving age, who is not doing well [academically]. At both these stages
you lose a lot of talented women.”
The point being made here, and echoed by many women, is that the role of women in India, as in many other countries, is
to look after their child at birth. However, what is specific to India (and some other Asian countries) is that the mother may
also feel compelled to opt out of the workforce at later stages in her career at times that coincide with critical stages in her
child’s education. For example, when children are aged 14 to 17 in India they take national exams to determine how they
will progress into tertiary education and beyond. Many women may decide to take time out at this point to help coach their
children academically or supervise them as they prepare for these exams.
Lack of visibility
Many of the women also said that a key reason there are not more women on boards in India is because the search for
board directors in India can be very myopic and that corporate directors tend to look no further than their own personal and
professional networks. They highlighted that women are not as visible as men in either the personal or professional networks,
26
www.som.cranfield.ac.uk
www.communitybusiness.org