India Inc, here’s a case for making room for women, HR News, ETHRWorld

ET Intelligence Group: Thanks to the requirement to have one woman director, 98% of companies listed on the NSE have a female board member compared with 35% in FY14, before the mandate came into effect in 2015. The number of women directors in NSE-listed companies has also increased to 3,611 from 638 at the end of FY14, according to data from Prime Database.

However, over the years, the minimum of ‘one woman independent director’ has mostly been construed as the maximum need for women on the board, irrespective of size. This is seen on boards of leading companies such as L&T (21 directors), Jagran Prakashan (18), Coal India, LIC and Muthoot Finance (15 each) or Havells India and Page Industries (14 each).

A study published in Harvard Business Review in 2006 had recommended three or more women directors to drive change. According to researchers Alison M Konrad and Vicki W Kramer, solo women on boards feel isolated and marginalised. Adding a second helps reduce isolation but the two may be perceived as a separate group and could find they have to be careful not to appear to be conspiring. A clear shift occurs when boards have three or more women. At that critical mass, women tend to be regarded by other members not as ‘female directors’ but simply as fellow directors.

In India, 267 companies or 12% of those…