Why Women’s Leadership Is Essential For A Better India

For us to define India as a progressing nation, the country needs to respect the rights of the women and girls that make up 48 percent of its population. Ensuring that India’s women and girls are safe, can exercise their rights, and have access to opportunities is imperative for India to claim its leadership position in the world. To honor the rights of women in India will ensure gender equity. To make India and the world more gender-equitable, we need more diverse leadership: people from various backgrounds in meaningful positions of leadership, regardless of their gender, class, or caste. Diverse leadership allows organizations to include a wide range of viewpoints in the way they work, foster an environment of inclusivity, and encourage innovative solutions.

My confidence in diverse leadership as a panacea might sound exaggerated, but here is why I believe in what I’ve said - and I hope it convinces you too. 

India’s progress on gender equity 

Over the last decade, India has progressed across multiple socioeconomic indicators—we have halved the share of the population living in extreme poverty between 2011 and 2019, life expectancy has increased by 11 years since 1990, and we are now among the top 5 largest economies in the world.  While we celebrate our progress, we need to remember that progress is not merely economic. We live in a society, intricately woven together by countless threads of interdependence. Our existence transcends mere economic transactions, encompassing shared values, culture, and collective well-being. Ensuring the rights of all members of that society is central to the world we want to see.

The most recent ratings in India on gender equity have also shown some improvement. The Equal Measures SDG Gender Index showed that India made ‘fast progress’ towards gender equity between 2015 and 2020. However, that’s still a below-average score for the Asia-Pacific. region. If we see India’s trajectory through the eyes of a ten-year-old girl today, she will see improved workplace equity laws by the time she is thirty, which is promising. However, she won’t see many women with secondary education or improved perceptions of public safety in her lifetime (assuming she lives up to 100 years).

In comparison to Kenya, where public safety is set to improve in the next 50 years, or Guatemala and Indonesia, where women’s secondary education will progress in 30 to 60 years, India is behind on key indicators. Since gender equity markers indicate shortcomings in addressing social issues like safety, health, and social norms, including women and girls in our progress plans is imperative. One of the most catalytic ways to build inclusion is by improving the agency of women and girls and ensuring women are in positions of leadership, influence, and decision-making. 

Why do we need women in leadership?

According to the UN Gender Snapshot 2023, the lack of women in leadership is one of the top hurdles for gender equity in the world. While the idea of ‘more women in leadership’ may seem like the simple act of increasing the number of roles offered to women in organizations, we need to think beyond structural change. Increasing the number of women in hierarchical, traditional systems can uphold values rooted in discriminatory behaviors. I’m not just talking about having more women in positions of power. Authentically engaging women in positions of power is one of the most powerful drivers for creating environments that are inclusive for all genders and across all other axes of identity.

Data shows that feminist women leaders challenge traditional power structures, recognise how gender is connected to other intersecting issues, and can inspire people of all genders who are currently underrepresented to pursue professional greatness. Unlocking the opportunity for women in leadership is a pathway for diverse, intersectional workforces and leadership across the board. 

The corporate world has already observed some of the benefits of women in leadership. The World Bank finds that “interventions that enhance gender equality and women’s economic contribution can boost company competitiveness, fortify supply chains, improve human capital, and help build an enabling business environment.” 

Beyond a company’s bottom line, the impact of women in leadership has also been shown to transform company values. For instance, gender diversity on corporate boards and in senior leadership improves companies’ sustainability profile and adoption of more climate-friendly policies. 

How do we implement change? 

At the systemic level, empowering women and girls through more leadership opportunities requires two significant transformations. Firstly, the transformation of organizations: the policies and practices within firms that govern how people operate - across all - business, philanthropy and development sectors. Secondly, the transformation of narratives and social norms at home and in society, to create a world in which all genders can participate meaningfully in leadership. For these transformations to happen, we need to start questioning and changing the existing power structures within these systems. 

Where should we begin? To kick off this transformation, India must commit to collaborative learning and bold experimentation to challenge existing organizational and societal gender norms. While we work towards getting women into the workforce, and creating policies and programs on education and skilling of girls and women, we also need to resource and invest in building the agency and leadership of women and girls. 

We need for them to have the option and choice of stepping into positions of influence, power and decision making. We need to change the status quo that is skewed against women and girls stepping up to their full potential. We need to create spaces where voices from all backgrounds converge, fostering inclusive decision-making, sustainable progress, and the justice we want to see in the world. 

Authored by Shailja Mehta, Director at Dasra and Lead at WomenLead India Alliance. Views expressed by the author are their own.