Women in leadership positions

For more than a decade, Indian companies have showcased their lone woman director as a badge of compliance, the corporate equivalent of checking a box and calling it progress. But behind the polished annual reports and celebratory statements lies a quieter, more uncomfortable truth: women have finally entered the boardroom, yet the boardroom has not opened its doors to them.A new report by Khaitan & Co., Aon, and Ladies Who Lead – Presence to Influence: Advancing Women in Indian Boardrooms, forces India Inc. to confront this reality. It reveals that while 98% of BSE-200 companies now have at least one woman director, mandated by the Companies Act 2013, the mandate has birthed visibility, not voice. Representation has risen, but relevance has not.This is the heart of India’s corporate paradox: Women are present, yet power remains elsewhere.

The illusion of progress: When presence becomes symbolic

The data strips away any remaining illusions. Seventy-seven percent of BSE-200 boards have only one or two women, even when board sizes stretch to 15 members or more. These numbers do not reflect diversity; they reflect minimalism, inclusion measured by the smallest acceptable unit.And the disparity deepens as one moves up the ladder of influence. Only 11% of women directors occupy executive roles, compared with 65% of men. This means the overwhelming majority of women on boards are kept at the periphery of strategic decision-making, rarely entrusted with the operational levers that shape a company’s future.The top job is even further away. Just 7% of BSE-200 board chairpersons are women. In the NIFTY-500, the number falls to 5%. These are not simply titles; they are positions that set culture, steer debate, and outline vision. When women are missing from these chairs, they are missing from the command centre of corporate India.

Corporate India’s silent norm: Bias dressed as culture

One of the most striking findings comes not from statistics but from lived experience. More than one in three women directors report persistent stereotyping, dismissive behaviour, and subtle but damaging undercurrents of tokenism, the report reveals. Their presence is acknowledged; their authority is doubted.Interviewees describe interruptions, minimisation of expertise, and unspoken assumptions that they are present to satisfy a statutory checkbox. Many say they must over-prepare, over-deliver, and over-exert simply to be seen as equal. Bias, instead of fading with progress, has evolved — becoming quieter, more coded, and more resistant.This is the emotional labour that never appears in corporate disclosures.Where women lead, diversity follows, the data is unmistakableThe report reveals a telling correlation: Companies helmed by women CEOs have nearly double the female board representation of male-led firms, 31% versus 17.7%. This is not coincidence. It is a cultural cause and effect.When leadership reflects diversity, boardrooms follow. When leadership does not, the board becomes a mirror of entrenched norms.Yet the irony is stark. Women CEOs account for only 6% of leadership across BSE-200 companies, a figure far too small to drive systemic change at scale. The system needs more than outliers; it needs an overhaul.

Four women, five women, six women: The tipping point

Another insight stands out: Companies with 4–6 women directors show stronger, more consistent gender diversity across the organisation. This suggests that diversity has a threshold, a point at which it shifts from symbolic to structural.One woman in the boardroom is compliance.Two is optics.Four or more begin to rewrite norms.It is at this threshold that women stop being “the only one” and start being a collective force, influencing strategy, challenging assumptions, and redefining leadership culture.

The deeper question: What does representation without voice achieve?

India has spent a decade celebrating the presence of women in the boardroom. But presence alone cannot ensure perspective, power, or participation. A seat at the table means little if the chair doesn’t swivel when you speak.The report forces us to confront a harder truth: Compliance laws can open doors, but only culture can let women walk through them with influence.

What must change now

For meaningful gender equity in corporate India, three fundamental shifts are needed:Move beyond the “minimum woman” mindsetMandated representation must evolve into deliberate, strategic inclusion. Companies must expand the number of women on boards, not simply appoint one or two.Build the pipeline to leadership, not just to the boardroomThe scarcity of women CEOs and executive directors is not an accident, it is the result of a broken leadership pipeline. Fixing it requires intentional mentorship, succession planning, and structural support.Dismantle entrenched bias, loudly and publiclyBoards must acknowledge gender bias as a governance issue, not a social one. Blind spots must be named before they can be corrected.

The bottom line: India doesn’t have a talent problem; it has a gatekeeping problem

Indian companies do not lack qualified women. They lack the will to put them in positions that shape decisions rather than decorate them.Meaningful representation is not a moral aspiration, it is a business imperative. Companies that include women meaningfully in leadership consistently outperform those that don’t. The data proves it. The global evidence confirms it.India has made progress. But progress without power is performative.If corporate India truly wants to modernise its boardrooms, it must confront its own contradictions, and recognise that the future of governance cannot be built on a foundation that keeps half the talent pool waiting in the corridor of influence.The question now is not whether women deserve a place in leadership.It is whether India Inc. is finally ready to listen when they get there.