Bengaluru, March 8 Women constitute 5.8 per cent (76) of the 1,314 board seats across 116 Indian unicorns, according to a report released on Saturday, highlighting the significant opportunity to improve gender diversity in the unicorn ecosystem in the country.
In contrast, women occupied 18.3 per cent of board seats across India Inc in 2023, while the global average stood at 23.3 per cent, as per a recent Deloitte’s ‘Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective’ report.
According to PrivateCircle Research, a private market intelligence platform, at the company level, 56 out of 116 unicorns (48 per cent) had at least one woman director on their board, while just 13 (11 per cent) of them had more than one woman director.
This signals Indian unicorns continued efforts to bridge the gender gap in boardrooms.
“It has been long established that companies with more diverse boards tend to perform better financially. McKinsey's 2023 Diversity Matters Even More report also found that companies with more diverse boards tend to achieve stronger financial performance,” said Murali Loganathan, Director of Research at PrivateCircle Research.
Specifically, those in the top quartile for gender diversity on their boards are 27 per cent more likely to outperform financially compared to those in the bottom quartile, said Loganathan.
According to the analysis, the finance unicorns had the highest representation of women directors (16) as compared to other sector unicorns.
This was followed by software (8), retail (7), insurance (5), travel and hospitality (5), and emerging technology (4) unicorns.
Several unicorns also stood out for their commitment to boardroom diversity with more than one women directors on their board.
The presence of multiple women on their boards sets a positive example for the broader ecosystem, demonstrating that gender-inclusive leadership is possible and beneficial for business growth.
According to the March 2024 edition of Women in the boardroom report, female representation in boardrooms has increased by 3.6 per cent since 2022 and the projected timeline for achieving gender parity has also shortened by seven years, the report noted.
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