CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, has released the Third edition of its ‘Mind the Gender Gap’ report, titled Analysis of women’s participation, pay and other measures in Indian public companies. The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the ‘business responsibility & sustainability reporting’ (BRSR) disclosure data around gender representation and remuneration trends across 300 listed companies, which together account for more than 70 per cent of India’s total market capitalisation.
The findings indicate that corporate expansion alone is not delivering improved inclusion outcomes. Between 2022-23 and 2024-25, the total workforce across the sample increased by 13.3 per cent, adding more than one million jobs. However, women accounted for only about 18 per cent of this incremental hiring. As a result, the overall female workforce participation declined marginally from 19.6 per cent to 19.4 per cent during the same period.
“With its third edition, the report challenges the widely held assumption that economic expansion and corporate growth naturally lead to greater inclusion,” affirms Arati Porwal, senior country head, India, CFA Institute. “While companies have created over a million new roles, women have not participated proportionately in that growth. This points to structural gaps, rather than cyclical fluctuations. Without deliberate hiring strategies, sustained leadership development and clear accountability at board and executive levels, workforce expansion alone will not resolve long-standing imbalances”.
Progress at senior levels remains measured, with women’s representation on boards staying at 18-19 per cent over the past three financial years. Female representation among key managerial personnel (KMP) increased modestly from 11.1 per cent in 2022-23 to 12.4 per cent in 2024-25. Nearly two thirds of companies in the sample reported having no female KMP.
Pay ratios Compensation trends further underscore the challenge. In 2024-25, male directors earned a median remuneration 3.6 times higher than that of female directors, compared with 2.9 times, three years earlier. Although the gap among KMP has narrowed slightly over time, male KMP still earned about 70 per cent more than their female counterparts, on an average. At employee and worker levels, remuneration remains relatively closer to parity, yet female-to-male pay ratios have slipped from 94.6 per cent in 2022-23 to 88.3 per cent in 2024-25, indicating stronger pay growth for men.
“These findings reinforce the importance of transparency at senior levels,” argues Gaurav Kapur, senior director, government relations & advocacy, India, CFA Institute. “Clear disclosure at the top is essential to enable meaningful and sustained reform. Our aim with the ‘Mind the Gender Gap’ report is to sustain focus and spark action among policymakers, regulators and industry leaders to advance women’s representation, pay parity and equitable participation in India’s progress.”
Sectoral variation The report further highlights significant sectoral variation. Information technology (IT), financials and consumer discretionary continue to demonstrate relatively higher levels of female participation, typically ranging between 23 per cent and 34 per cent. In contrast, sectors such as energy, materials and utilities remain at the lower end, with female participation between 4 per cent and 6 per cent and some of the widest senior level pay gaps.
The report also outlined policy recommendations to help address the persistent gaps in corporate India, including:
• standardising the definition and classification of KMP across companies to ensure consistent reporting and more reliable comparisons;
• introducing greater granularity in remuneration disclosures, including clearer differentiation between executive and non-executive directors, independent and non-independent directors and role-based hierarchy levels within employee categories;
• encouraging boards to adopt measurable targets to improve women’s representation in senior leadership and strengthen oversight mechanisms to track progress; and
• implementing targeted hiring, retention, return-to-work and leadership development programmes for women, particularly in sectors with low participation.
The report aims to direct attention toward the subject, serving as a resource for generating dialogue among policymakers, regulators and industry.
In May 2021, Securities & Exchange Board of India released the BRSR framework, a comprehensive set of sustainability disclosures covering environmental, social and governance issues. The report analyses the BRSR disclosure data for 300 companies over three reporting periods. The sample selection methodology is designed to provide comprehensive representation, encompassing about 70 per cent of total market capitalisation of listed companies in India. This approach ensures that the study includes the most significant companies, while covering the broader market across different sectors and industries.
By tracking trends over time and examining how reported data translate into practice, this third edition aims to drive impact towards meaningful gender inclusion.