Over half of NSE firms employ under 10% women: Study

Synopsis More than half of NSE-listed companies employ fewer than 10% women, according to the Udaiti Foundation’s 2024–25 Close the Gender Gap dashboard. Based on disclosures from 1,386 firms employing 13.4 million people, the study finds that women’s overall workforce representation remains stagnant at 18%, with only 2% of companies having a majority-women workforce. More than half of NSE-listed companies (52%) employ fewer than 10% women, reveals the Udaiti Foundation’s Close the Gender Gap Dashboard for 2024-25, released on Tuesday. The study—by the not-for-profit focused on catalysing women's economic empowerment in India—shows that despite rising disclosures and policy momentum, gender inclusion across India Inc remains deeply uneven. The fifth edition of Udaiti’s dashboard analysed 2024-25 data from 1,386 NSE-listed firms employing 13.4 million people, including 2.4 million women. Its findings are based on disclosures in Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reports (BRSR) and annual reports of NSE-listed firms. Data was examined across market indices, company size and sector-specific factors to assess representation, leadership inclusion, pay equity and attrition trends. While gender-data reporting itself has improved sharply—from 915 companies in FY21 to 1,386 this year—only about half of the total 2,615 listed firms provide gender-disaggregated numbers, limiting visibility into systemic barriers. Women’s workforce representation remained stagnant at 18% for the second straight year. Overall employment rose 6% in the period, while women’s employment increased by 7%, a marginal improvement that still failed to shift their proportional share. Live Events Udaiti’s founding chief executive Pooja Sharma Goyal said in a statement that although steady progress in women’s workforce participation is visible, “The pace of change still does not match the growth of India’s overall workforce”, adding that limited, uneven reporting restricts the understanding of where women are advancing and where they are being held back and the structural reasons behind it. The landscape remains heavily polarised. While 52% of NSE-listed companies employ fewer than 10% women, only 2%—around 33 firms—have a workforce that is more than half women. Sectors that traditionally employ large numbers of women are also exhibiting plateaus. Hospitals and labs increased women’s representation from 45% to 48%, and consumer services rose from 30% to 34%, but IT stayed flat at 34% and banking at 26%, suggesting persistent structural barriers even in sectors with established diversity, equity and inclusion agendas. Sectoral divergences are widening. Some industries have shown that targeted intent can reshape even male-heavy workforces, with certain companies reporting women’s participation rates far above sector averages. These outliers demonstrate that meaningful progress is possible but not yet widespread. On pay parity, the study found modest movement. The median gender pay gap—reported under Sebi norms—narrowed from 6.7% to 3.3% between 2023-24 and 2024-25. However, the picture varies sharply by sector. Textiles (30.4%), diversified industries (28.5%) and metals & mining (17%) continue to show large gaps despite higher female representation. Some traditionally male-dominated sectors reported reverse gaps, with women earning more than men on median remuneration—pharma (+8%) and consumer durables (+7%) among them. Leadership inclusion remains largely driven by regulation rather than internal progression. Women on boards rose from 18% to 22%, led by hospitals & labs at 26% and telecom at 24%. But the pipeline remains thin and leaky: banking has the lowest board representation at 15%, only 8% of key management positions are held by women, and just 10% of companies have more than one woman in top management roles. Awareness and reporting of workplace misconduct are also rising. Sexual harassment complaints increased 16%, a trend Udaiti attributes to growing confidence in reporting mechanisms. Yet pending cases rose 28%, suggesting that grievance redressal systems are not keeping pace. Pharma and FMCG showed relatively faster resolution rates, whereas metals & mining and media & entertainment recorded higher complaint volumes.