Journal of Business Management & Social Sciences Research (JBM&SSR)

Volume 3, No.4, April 2014

ISSN No: 2319-5614

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Glass Ceiling Converted Into Glass Transparency: A Study On

The Factors Making Women Executives Successful In The Indian Banking Sector
Dr Geeta Sachdeva, Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities & Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology,
Kurukshetra, Haryana, India

Abstract
Economic reforms in the Indian economy along with gradual opening up of a conservative society to a modern society preceded breaking the glass ceiling or conversion Glass ceiling into a Glass Transparency in the Indian Banking Sector. This
is backed by a recent study of 240 top Indian companies by EMA Partners, the global executive-search firm, which says
more than a half of India's women chief executives are accounted for by the banking and financial services industry.
This paper studies the impact of glass ceiling on the Indian banking Industry and increasing role of women leaders in
banking industry and also is an attempt to develop the factors which make women so successful in the Indian Banking Industry.
Purpose Of The Paper is to
a) To Study the impact of Glass Ceiling on the Indian banking Industry
b) To Study the why women in banking making it to the corner room than any other sector
c) To develop the factors making women executive successful in the Indian banking Sector
Design/Methodology/Approach
The theories about the factors that have been used to break through the glass ceiling and increase womens participation
have been discussed and coordinated with the statements of eminent personalities of Indian Banking Sector about factors
women bankers leverage in their career growth and classified into a set of six factor which are making women executive
successful in the Indian banking sector.
Findings
We conclude that Indias Banking sector seems to have gently shattered this Glass ceiling and has been a sort of opposition to the glass ceiling and the Indian banking industry has a better corner room diversity score
It is concluded that factors making women executive successful in the Indian Banking sector can be classified as a) Liberalization of Indian Economy b) Education c) Diversity Consciousness by Banks d) Nature of Banking Job e) Family Support f) Banking Comes Naturally to Women
Keywords: Glass Ceiling, Indian Banking, Women in Banking, Glass Transparency, Banking & Financial Services.

Introduction
Women Managers are conspicuous by their minority in
Indian Organizations. However studies show that Indian
Organizations are better off than their western counterparts as far as presence of women in the top management
is concerned. Around 11% of the top corporate organizations in India are headed by women against a corresponding figure of 3% for fortune 500 companies.
Trends in the Indian Banking sector are highly favorable
for women leaders; Managing Human Resources (Sie)
8E, By Cascio, Page 370).
Indian banking sector has witnessed explosive growth
and expansion ever since the economic reforms was
launched nearly two decades ago. This has created a new
window of opportunities for women to find employment
in the banking sector. In fact, the nationalization of the
Indian banking sector in 1969 served as the first major
step to reduce gender discrimination against women in
banking jobs. The general pattern of womens employment in this sector has shown that there has been a sort

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of opposition invisible glass ceiling against women acquiring the top management positions in banking.
Economic reforms in the Indian economy along with
gradual opening up of a conservative society to a modern
society preceded breaking the glass ceiling or conversion
Glass ceiling into a Glass Transparency in the Indian
Banking Sector. This is backed by a recent study of 240
top Indian companies by EMA Partners, the global executive-search firm, which says more than a half of India's
women chief executives are accounted for by the banking and financial services industry.

Glass Ceiling
Glass ceiling became a popular term after it was coined
in The Wall Street Journal by journalists Hymowitz and
Schellhardt in 1986. It is an everyday metaphor used to
describe the invisible barrier in front of women seeking
to move up organizational hierarchies (Powell, 2012).
This phenomenon is responsible for the scarcity of women holding leadership and senior management positions

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in many areas, but particularly in business and politics

United Bank of India and Shubhalakshmi Panse, CMD
_________________________________________________________________________________
(Catalyst,
2011; Okimoto and Brescoll, 2010).
of Allahabad Bank.
The glass ceiling refers to an artificial barrier that prevents qualified individuals to advance within their organization and reach their full potential (Reinhold, 2005).
Even though society has come a long way in attaining
more opportunities for women, there is still a long way
to go in order to reach true equality (Goodman et al.,
2003). This inability to reach equality is what is termed
the glass ceiling (Veale and Gold, 1998). The term
glass ceiling is the apparent barriers that prevent women and minorities from reaching the top of the corporate
hierarchy (Pai and Vaidya, 2009, p.106).
In todays world female managers are business people
who are in relationships with family responsibilities and
it is important for women to realize that their dual roles
have to be managed (Veale and Gold, 1998, p.
23).Presently, a large number of women have moved
rapidly into positions of management (Yukongdi and
Benson, 2005). Even though, to date, they occupy mostly
the middle and lower ranks in the managerial cadre
(Kottis, 1993). Quite a number of women have successfully broken the "glass ceiling" but the number gaining
access into senior management positions is still relatively small (Arfken et al., 2004 ). In most cases, female
managers carry out the same job description as men but
with lower titles (Albrecht et al., 2003). Furthermore,
practical evidence confirms that the few women that
have succeeded in getting to managerial positions earn
just a fraction of what their male counterparts earn on
salaries (Jamali et al., 2006). In spite of all the pressures
and legal changes from national and international organizations which have taken place, it is not in doubt that an
advancement in the positions held by women in large
organizations have been somewhat uneven and slow
(Cordano et al., 2002).

Glass Ceiling and Indian Banking Sector:

Indias Banking sector seems to have gently shattered
this Glass ceiling and has been a sort of opposition to the
glass ceiling.
As Arundhati Bhattacharya gets set to take charge as the
chairperson of the country's largest bank State Bank of
India (SBI) to become the first woman chairperson in the
history of 206 years of State bank of India, she looks
likely to join the steadily expanding club of women currently holding the top job in Indian banks. Bhattacharya
will be the latest entrant, joining the likes of Chanda
Kochhar, MD and CEO of ICICI Bank; Shikha Sharma,
MD and CEO, Axis Bank; Naina Lal Kidwai, country
head, HSBC; Kaku Nakhate, president and country head
(India), Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Vijayalakshmi
Iyer, CMD, Bank of India; Archana Bhargava, CMD,

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The government has reportedly zeroed in on Ms. Usha

Ananthasubramanian, ED, Punjab National Bank, to
head the countrys first all-women bankBhartiya Mahila Bankwhich has commenced operations from November.
This is unique both in the Indian and global contexts. In
India, only one in 10 companies across all sectors have a
woman at the helm, but more than half of these are from
the financial services sector, a study done by executive
search firm EMA Partners International a few years ago
discovered. That number has only grown in the past few
years, says K Sudarshan, managing partner - India
&regional VP - Asia.
Globally too, the Indian banking industry has a better
corner room diversity score than even the US. Only three
in the top 25 in American Banker Magazine's listing of
most powerful women in banking, released last month,
are at the very top of their companies. Two more had the
chief executive title, but only ran large subsidiaries.

Why Do More Women In Banking Make It

To The Corner Room Than Any Other Sector?
Women have this thing with numbers, finance and
money. The banking industry gave them equal opportunities and they have excelled Finance Secretary Sushma
Nath, who is herself the first woman to occupy the top
post in North Block, said.
Banking comes naturally to women, says Swati Piramal,
a non-executive director on the board of ICICI Bank and
vice-chairperson of Piramal Enterprises. "Women tend to
be more conservative, more structured, more careful
about money, good leaders and better team players," she
says. Arun Duggal, chairman of Shriram Capital and a
veteran international banker adds: "Banking requires
sound instinct and intellectual capability to analyse businesses. I feel women are better at it than men." says
Duggal, who is championing a mentoring programme to
get more women on corporate boards, says women have
the ability to judge a borrower situation instinctively and
are able to make very sound judgments.
At least two more factors have traditionally helped
women bankers leverage this natural advantage in their
career growth. First, banking does not present women
with the challenges and stereotypes other sectors such as
manufacturing pose. "Unlike in manufacturing, banking
in a way, did not have a shop-floor (and therefore no
problem of women having to do night shifts),"says K
Ramkumar, executive director, ICICI Bank. "Much of

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the selling in the financial services industry, until retail

management levels, some women would tend to drop off
_________________________________________________________________________________
exploded
in the past 10 years, was done meeting people
because of various issues. This is changing a lot now."
in offices."
Banking requires a lot of reliance on external network
Second, banks started to intentionally build diversity
and research suggests women are very strong in external
much earlier than other sectors. "The number of senior
networking and more objective and performancewomen bankers that you see today is a testimony to
oriented in their roles within the organization, says Puthat,"says Madhavi Lall, head - group employee relaneet Singh, partner, financial services, and head-north
tions, Standard Chartered Bank. At ICICI Bank, for exIndia, Heidrick &Struggles. "This is one reason why
ample, this was happening since the 1980s, led by viwomen are successful at the top level in banks."
sionaries like SS Nadkarni and N Vaghul in the 80s,
Some of the operational challenges in terms of gender
points out Ramkumar. Kamath continued the tradition
aren't there in our banking and financial services industhat ensured women got an opportunity to prove themtry, said Aruna Sundararajan, who was till recently the
selves.
chief executive for digital inclusion at Infrastructure
"Women who are at the top now are largely those who
Leasing and Financial Services Ltd.
started their careers around 1980s and worked their way
'This industry also does not need the kind of networking
up,"says Shubhalakshmi Panse, chairman and managing
that is otherwise required in the corporate sector. It has
director of Allahabad Bank and the first woman to head
also provided equal, merit-based opportunities to womthe 148-year-old institution. "What works in their favour
en, 'Sundararajan, now a joint secretary in the urban deis that they are multi-taskers, team players, very flexible
velopment ministry, told IANS.
and able to handle all kinds of situations with equanimity."

Literature Review
Tarjani Vakil, former chairperson of the Exim Bank,
who rose to the top spot in 1996, was perhaps the first of
her kind. She was followed by Ranjana Kumar who became CMD of Indian Bank in 2000. She managed a significant turnaround at the bank, before taking over as
chairperson of Nabard (National Bank for Agriculture
and Rural Development) in 2003.
Over the years, ICICI Bank and others have supported
women at various points in their career, enabling them to
balance their home and work life more effectively, especially at key decision points or the cross-roads. "Banking
as a career offers women the opportunity to better balance their family and professional careers, says Duggal.
Many banks have also proactively promoted women for
fear of losing them to competition. "Companies that have
managed to elevate internal candidates to the CEO position are better examples where this approach has worked
best,"says Kaku Nakhate, president and country head India, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Banks remain sharply focused on improving gender diversity, top search firms say. Other things remaining the
same, between two candidates from different sexes,
banks prefer women.
At least half-a-dozen clients across multinational banks
and insurance are making a more conscious effort to hire
women candidates, says Monica Agrawal, partner and
head of financial services at executive search firm
Korn/Ferry International. "Earlier, men and women
would start off at the same level but at the mid-

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According to McDonald (2004) attaining education has

been categorized as one of the most significant factors
that have been used to break through the glass ceiling
and increase womens participation in the labor force.
Kirchmeyer (2002 cited in Jamali et al. 2006) noted that
in the past, women have achieved high levels of education in different countries and consist of about 40 percent
of the workforce worldwide. Self development through
formal education and volunteering for leadership positions would help women acquire good skills for business
as well as gain high profile, knowledge and experience
(Still, 1992).
Diversity is an asset which can be transformed when
properly managed into a workplace where different employees can grow and utilize their full potential (Kundu,
2003). MacRae (2005) noted the increase in gender and
ethnic diversity in organizations as a vital strategy which
has helped in assuring women of equal opportunity in
attaining top management positions and getting involved
in making strategic business decisions thereby making it,
not only imperative for organizational success but also
for societal development. Morrison (1992) suggested
that top management should promote diversity and their
top executives should constantly advocate and nudge
their direct subordinates and other employees to foster
diversity within the organization. According to Jackson
(2001) organizations should effectively embrace diversity and put strategies in place to eliminate discrimination
and injustice to women.
Williams and Cooper, (2004) acknowledged that family
obligations affected working women while Clancy and

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Tata (2005) argued that women would be successful in

c) Diversity Consciousness by Banks: Banks and Intheir_________________________________________________________________________________
career if they get the support of their husbands.
surance companies are making a more conscious effort
to hire women candidates.F The present scenario clearly
According to Cornelius and Skinner (2005) equal opporindicates that management in general has become much
tunities in promotion, pay and support for all women
more human-oriented, even in the face of some incrediirrespective of their age enable them to engage in any
ble advancement in technology. As a result, scholars and
career of their choice. Kottis (1993) also noted that,
professionals alike have recognized the need for people
women employees receive lower salaries and less prowith better 'Soft' skills that include communicating, netmotion and this made them less fulfilled than their male
working, empowering, delegating, and counseling
counterparts. Thus, equal opportunities in pay and proamong others.
motions should be encouraged as one of the strategies.
Promotions should be based on their performance and
d) Nature of Banking Job: The working hours of banks
not on gender (Fitsum and Luchien, 2007).
were suited to serve the woman's domestic schedules,
there was physical proximity to the place of work, the
According to Don (2006) excellent services are provided
job offered an element of respectability and the profesby managers who identify with others on an emotional
sion did not require physical labor. Banking does not
level. Evans (2010) supports this view by stating that
present women with the challenges and stereotypes other
female managers have superior people management
sectors such as manufacturing pose
skills, more democratic, visionary, focus on quality of
performance, possess distinctive virtues, skills and abile) Family Support: Most women bankers agree that one
ity to inspire and motivate employees, results driven at
of main advantages they had was the support system
work, proficient in organizational transformation using
from their family. Banking as a career offers women the
their personality, good interpersonal skills, ability to
opportunity to better balance their family and profesmulti-task and prioritize, possess effective soft skills
sional careers.
such as negotiating and communicating and their style of
f) Banking comes naturally to Women: Retail banking
leadership is transformational.
is more of a relationship thing and women excel at that.
In the Indian context, while women have started venturFindings:
ing out to work in the corporate world, they have been
Indias Banking sector seems to have gently shattered
handling relationships at home too, as a wife or a moththis Glass ceiling and has been a sort of opposition to the
er. Women have done well in banking because it is a
glass ceiling and the Indian banking industry has a better
business where you need to keep in mind what the cuscorner room diversity score.
tomer wants. Women have some amount of empathy
towards customers needs
It is concluded that factors making women executive
successful in the Indian Banking sector can be classified
The Challenge Ahead:
into six factors:
We welcome the appointment of Arundhati Bhattachara) Liberalization of Indian Economy
ya, the first woman to steer the countrys largest lender,
b) Education
the State Bank of India. She joins other women heading
c) Diversity Consciousness by Banks
public and private sector banks in India, all of whom
d) Nature of Banking Job
have been chosen on merit and performance, and not
e) Family Support
because of their gender. But in sectors other than bankf) Banking comes naturally to Women
ing, there is a dearth of women in the senior-most positions. This is strange and calls out to be remedied. We do
not need a quota on company board seats for women.
a) Liberalization of Indian Economy: The answer to
That would be patronizing. What corporate India needs
shattered glass ceiling in the Indian Banking Sector dates
is awareness that there is something called a glass ceiling
back to 50 years when then prime minister Indira Gandhi
for women, probably right there in its own house. Other
nationalized 14 top banks in the country, followed by
things being equal, gender should not come in the way of
seven more in 1980, and made them adopt a common
womens progress to leadership roles.
process of recruitment through competitive tests.
Rightly, Twitter is now under attack, for lack of diversib) Education: The mid-80s saw a number of smart
ty, being the only tech powerhouse without a female
women graduating from the B-schools just when the
board member. And what drives home the difference is
Indian banking sector was starting to grow. ICICI,
the fact that there are more women than men using TwitHDFC, HSBC, Citibank, were all expanding and were
ter. Facebook came under similar attack ahead of its
hiring during the mid-80s and the early 90s.
IPO, but named a woman director shortly after the public

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offering. Google, Apple, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Amazon

[12] Fitsum, G., Luchien, K. (2007) Employee reactions
and _________________________________________________________________________________
eBay, all have at least one woman elected to their
to human resource management and performance in
boards. Surely, diversity improves the quality of decia developing country, Personnel Review, 36(5), pp.
sion-making.
722-738.
Research has shown that having women on boards provides genuine value addition to decision-making. We
have a distance to go, especially in the larger society,
whose attitudes determine how women are viewed and
valued, including in corporate life.

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