Slow progress: Women in CFO roles remain a minority in India
Latest data from 2,257 companies listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), collated by Primeinfobase, show that just 45 of them have a woman in the chief financial officer or director-finance role. That number was 24 in March 2019 and 31 at the end of March last year.
Unlock Leadership Excellence with a Range of CXO Courses
Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIIM LucknowIIML Chief Operations Officer ProgrammeVisitIIM LucknowIIML Chief Executive Officer ProgrammeVisitIIM KozhikodeIIMK Chief Product Officer ProgrammeVisitBoard members, executive search companies and legal experts said there is a lot of room for improvement.
<div data-placement=«Mid Article Thumbnails» data-target_type=«mix» data-mode=«thumbnails-mid» style=«min-height:400px; margin-bottom:12px;» class=«wdt-taboola» id=«taboola-mid-article-thumbnails-107570472»>
MNCs in India as well as large domestic firms and conglomerates are taking steps to enhance gender diversity in their top management, but they often find a shortage of talent to head the finance function, they said.
«On one in every three CFO search mandates, there is an explicit ask for a woman professional. However, it is essential to recognise that the talent pipeline varies across industries,» said Rahul Kakkar, partner and India head, CFO Practice, at the leadership advisory and senior executive search firm Korn Ferry.
For companies in the core industrial and manufacturing sectors, the talent pipeline is more limited compared with the services sector, where there has been greater success in cultivating and retaining high-potential, senior female professionals within the finance function. «However, where pipeline is an issue, we are seeing an openness to hiring talent from other sectors,
