While the business world has been making great strides towards gender equality and women empowerment, the ratio of male bosses versus female continues to be appallingly skewed against the latter. And India, unfortunately, fares abysmally-low on the list—with one of the lowest female labour force participation rates, globally. In 2020, only around 6 percent of companies on the Fortune India 500 list were managed by women. Just 29 had women in executive roles.
It’s true that a lot of social factors contribute to the figures. Multiple surveys and studies have reiterated the role of gender bias—conscious or unwitting—in recruitments, promotions, remuneration decisions, and at the workplace. But there is another critical factor at play: the underconfidence that women exhibit, even amongst the most qualified sometimes.
A recent Hewlett-Packard research revealed that “men apply for a job when they meet about 60 percent of the qualifications. But women apply only if
