Women hold under 12% of manager posts in India, ranking 32nd of 34 in Asia-Pacific: ILO report

A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has put forward several startling findings on the situation of working women. According to the report, titled "Women in Business and Management, Scaling Success", women hold less than 12 per cent of manager posts in India.

India ranks 32nd in a list of 34 countries and economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Only Pakistan and Bangladesh rank below India. The report presents a picture of equality in the corporate world, pay gaps and the presence of women at different levels of management. It is based on an ILO survey conducted among 11,957 enterprises in 99 countries.

In Asia-Pacific, one in every five managers, or about 20 per cent, is a woman. The global figure is 30.5 per cent. In India, women's participation is very low in total manager posts as well as at both senior and middle management levels.

According to Prof Neetha N. of the Centre for Women's Development Studies, there are two main reasons behind this gap. The first is the stereotyped thinking in society about women's abilities, because of which they are not considered fit for senior posts. The second is the heavy responsibility of household and child-rearing, because of which women themselves have to step back from these posts.

On pay, the report says women employees in India get about 28 per cent less per hour than men. Among 23 Asia-Pacific economies, this is the fourth-largest gender wage gap. Only Tonga (about 64 per cent), South Korea (about 41 per cent) and Vanuatu (about 29 per cent) are ahead of India.

There is also some good news. At the manager level, the pay gap between women and men in India is almost zero. This means that once they reach senior posts, there is no big difference in the earnings of men and women.

On education, the report says 23.1 per cent of all women in higher education in India have studied science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Among men the figure is 31.4 per cent. The ILO says the gap in pay and posts cannot be explained by education or working hours alone. There are several factors behind it, such as the gendered division of occupations, under-counting of women's work and responsibilities related to family care.

Another aspect of the report is encouraging. Companies or businesses led by women have shown improved performance. Businesses with women CEOs are 6.4 per cent more likely to report better results than those with male CEOs. Where the chairperson of the board is a woman, the likelihood of better results is reported to be 17.5 per cent higher.