Strategy And Planning

Women gain ground in boardrooms, senior roles: Govt report

April 30, 2026
www.ETHRWorld.com
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  • Published On Apr 30, 2026 at 07:56 AM IST

< />New Delhi: Women are gaining ground in senior leadership roles, with their share rising in both <a id="20738576" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Corporate-Boards" source="keywords" class="news-keywords" href="/tag/corporate+boards">corporate boards</a> and management positions, according to a government report released on Wednesday.<br><br><!– PROMOSLOT_M –>Women held a 29.1% share in board of directors in 2025, up from 26% in 2018. During this period, men” captionrendered=”1″ data-src=”https://etimg.etb2bimg.com/photo/130621323.cms” declined=”” from=”” height=”442″ loading=”eager” s=”” share=”” src=”https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/images/default.jpg” to=”” width=”590″></img><br /></br>A similar shift is visible in senior management, where women’s representation increased to 17.1% in 2025 from 13.9% in 2018. In contrast, the share of men declined to 82.9% from 86.1%, according to the ‘Women and Men in India 2025’ report by the statistics and programme implementation ministry.</p> <p>Senior management positions include chief executive officer, chief financial officer, company secretary, managing director, manager and whole-time director.</p> <p>“There has been a 73.80% increase in men engaged in managerial positions between 2017 and 2025, whereas there has been a 102.54% increase in women engaged in managerial positions during the same time period,” the report said.</p> <p>Entrepreneurship trend reflects a sharper growth in representation of women. Startups with at least one woman director surged to 19,351 in 2025 from 4,164 in 2018.</p> <p>Maharashtra led with 3,311 startups in 2025, followed by Uttar Pradesh (2,069), Karnataka (1,804) and Delhi (1,608).</p> <p>Women’s participation in investment increased slightly to 24.7% in 2025-26 (till October 2025) from 24.3% in 2024-25, while men’s share declined marginally to 75.3% from 75.7%.</p> <p>Goa recorded the highest share of female investors at 33%, followed by Mizoram (32.4%), Chandigarh (32.2%), Sikkim (30.9%) and Delhi (30.8%).</p> <p>Additionally, around 18.7 million women-run informal micro enterprises employed 22.8 million people, as of December 2025.</p> <p>Despite these gains, women remain underrepresented in several sectors. They account for 14.3% of judicial positions (118 out of 1,122), and only 3.03% of the 33 judges in the Supreme Court.</p> <p>The defence sector, including the army and navy, also saw an increase in the number of women serving between 2020 and 2025. Women account for 8.3% of the total defence personnel, with the highest share in the Defence Research and Development Organisation (15.4%), followed by the Indian Air Force (12.9%). </p> <div> <div> <ul> <li><a href=ET Bureau

  • Published On Apr 30, 2026 at 07:56 AM IST

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