Top BSE cos have only 5.3% women directors

Women comprise barely over five per cent of the board of directors of India's top companies as listed by the Bombay Stock Exchange ( BSE- 100), according to a study.

Looking at the overall findings, the first year of this research reveals that out of a total of 1,112 directorships on BSE- 100 firms, just 59 directorships or 5.3 per cent of all directorships, are held by women. These directorships are held by 48 different women, said the study by the Standard Chartered Bank, Community Business and the Cranfield School of Management.

This percentage compares unfavourably not only with Canada ( 15 per cent), the US ( 14.5 per cent) and the UK ( 12.2 per cent), but also with markets such as Hong Kong ( 8.9 per cent) and Australia ( 8.3 per cent).

Shalini Mahtani, co- author of the report and founder of Community Business, said, " Our aspiration is that in time we will have a true meritocracy in corporate India, allowing each person, regardless of gender or background, to achieve their full potential." About 12 firms of the BSE- 100 have more than one female director, seven firms have female executive directors and 2.5 per cent of all executive director roles are held by women. Less than half of the companies - only 46 - have women on their boards. Of all new appointments made in 2010 ( as of May, 2010), 4.9 per cent were women. Two companies ( Jindal Steel & Power and JSW Steel) have female chairs and two of the biggest banks in India ( ICICI Bank and Axis Bank) have female CEOs.

Standard Chartered's group executive director and chief executive officer ( CEO), Asia, Jaspal Bindra, said, " Given the impact of corporate governance on business performance, this research is critical not only in raising the awareness of the need to increase women's advancement to the board level, but also in creating a debate around this topic." At the top of the list is JSW Steel, which has three women ( 23.1 per cent) on its board of 13.

Oracle Financial Services follows with two women ( 22.2 per cent) out of nine and Piramal Healthcare is third with 20 per cent female directors. It's two female directors are executive directorships, a distinction among BSE- 100 companies. Axis Bank, Lupin Ltd and Titan Industries too, have two board members each.

The majority of women directors interviewed felt that companies do not think about the gender diversity of their boards.

Two- thirds of the women were not surprised by the findings of this research. The most commonly cited reasons for this related to women's primary role of looking after the family, and that many fall off the corporate ladder mid- career because of guilt of neglecting their families.

They also said that women are perhaps less visible in the corporate environment and as a result, are not put forward in the nomination process, as often as men.

Women felt more needs to be done to encourage greater participation of women on boards.