According to a LinkedIn study, more women are choosing to start their own businesses in India, where the proportion of female founders is rising faster than that of their male counterparts. The study also emphasised the alarming pattern of women leaving the corporate ladder and not getting the promotions they deserve, which has an impact on the diversity ratio at the top.
The study indicated that between 2016 and 2021, the proportion of female founders increased by 2.68 times. Comparatively, throughout the same time span, the percentage of male founders increased just 1.79 times. On the other hand, women make up just 18% of India Inc.'s leadership team.
"Our new data is indicative of one thing: working women in India are being held back by more barriers in the workplace when compared to men. But despite the adversity, many women remain undeterred and continue to chart their own path by pivoting to entrepreneurship and building careers that allow them to work on their own terms with greater flexibilty," said Ruchee Anand, senior director, India Talent and Learning Solutions, LinkedIn.
The information was made public in the Global Gender Gap Report for 2022 by the World Economic Forum.
The statistics showed that men are 42 percent more likely to be promoted into leadership roles than women, and that women are not promoted internally to leadership in businesses at the same rate as men.
"In India, the representation of female leaders drops from 29% at the senior level to a staggering 18% at the Managerial level," the company said in a statement.
