Female board members and Key Managerial Personnel (KMPs) receive significantly lower compensation compared to their male counterparts, according to the ‘Mind the Gender Gap’ report by the CFA Institute.
Men occupy a higher proportion of seats in Board of Directors (BoDs) roles. Women directors constitute only 18.4 percent of the board director positions and only 10 percent of the Key Managerial Personnel.
According to the report, nearly two-thirds of the companies analyzed have no female KMPs, and among those that do, 80 percent have only a single female KMP.
Significant pay gaps were observed across roles from BODs, KPM, and the general workforce.
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The report mentioned that women directors receive only 44 percent of the median remuneration compared to their male counterparts.
According to the report, male directors earn 21 times the median remuneration of male employees and 24x that of male workers.
The report also underscored that women constitute only 20 percent of the overall workforce, with men accounting for the remaining 80 percent.
The information Technology sector employs the highest percentage of women at 34 percent followed by the consumer discretionary and financial sectors (25 percent and 24 percent respectively). The lowest participation of women was observed in the utilities sector at 4 percent, the report highlighted.
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Sectors such as Real Estate, Information Technology, Consumer Staples, Health Care, and Consumer Discretionary sectors showed a more equitable gender distribution for the Board of Directors.
Conversely, the Financial Services and Energy sectors exhibited the most pronounced gender imbalance among BoDs.
Regarding Key Managerial Personnel, no sector has a male-to-female ratio less than 5 to 1. The disparity is most extreme in the Real Estate sector, followed by the Utilities and Communication Services sectors.
“Companies with diverse leadership teams demonstrate greater innovation, improved decision-making, and enhanced financial performance. To achieve this, Indian companies must encourage a culture of inclusion, by attracting and retaining female talent, and ensure fair and equitable remuneration practices,” Arati Porwal, Country Head, India, CFA Institute said.