Women Constitute Only 2% In Senior Leadership: MD, JLL India

Women constitute around 8 per cent of senior level workforce in organisations, and only 2 per cent when it comes to senior leadership, said Charu Thapar, Managing Director at Property and Asset Management firm JLL India during a panel discussion on ‘Gender Diversity and women in unfriendly professions’ held on Thursday (15 June).

However, when it comes to entry-level jobs, women constitute around 30 to 35 per cent of an organisation.

When asked about the things that men in Thapar’s organisation are able to do and she does not, her reply was, “It is not a women-centric organisation but diversity is not just about women. It is more about putting different views and opinions on the same table.”

Thapar has spent 24 years working in the real estate industry. “When I joined, everyone thought I’m a man because the industry did not have many women then. This industry is indeed completely dominated by men,” she said.

“But in spite of everything I strongly believe that authority is never given, it is assumed and nothing can replace hard-work,” she added.

The other panelists who joined Thapar were, Sharmila Venkatesan, Aerothermal Engineer at Rolls Royce, Ishita Yashvi, Assistant General Manager at DLF India, Akila Agrawal, M&A Specialist Corporate Advocate, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, Jyotsana Ghoshal, Corporate affairs, Merck Sharp and Dohme and Surabhi Mittal, Vice President, HR at Lanxness.

Jyotsana Ghoshal at the beginning of the discussion told, that male dominant environment does exist but the key is to have belief in oneself and one’s work.

“Nowadays the representation of women has increased from 8 per cent to 34 per cent, but how did we do that? We all need diversity to have different views, it is not about men or women, but because it makes sense for the business.”

Thapar concluded by saying that there is no true representation of women at the board level.

The panel discussion was part of an event – ‘HR Conclave, Future of Workplace, Talent and Jobs,’ organised by BW Businessworld, Associate partner ICFAI Group, Eco-system partner Schaeffler, Online Tax partner Tax2win, Education partner Asian Education Group and Community partner BW Education. The event was sponsored by XOXODAY.