An article in The Times of India (dated February 23, 2026) caught my attention. The headline read, “Corporate India’s boardrooms still a men’s club.” The article referenced findings from a report published by All India Management Association (AIMA) and KPMG India, reinforcing a reality many of us intuitively recognize — representation at the highest decision-making levels remains disproportionately male.
Around the same time, I read a December 2024 paper by Dr. Shamika Ravi and Dr. Mudit Kapoor on female labour force participation in India. One statistic stood out sharply: female labour force participation peaks between ages 30 and 40 and then declines significantly, while male participation remains nearly flat at close to 100% between 30 and 50 before gradually tapering off. The divergence is structural, not accidental.
This Women’s Day, I found myself reflecting that while we are doing better than our earlier generations, we are still far behind. More concerning is that in some areas, the numbers have declined. As a working woman, a homemaker, and a parent, I believe the following factors contribute to this pattern:
1. Primary Caregiver Role – We assumed it and it cannot be undone easily
The Problem:
Despite progress in education and employment, caregiving responsibilities within households continue to disproportionately fall on women. Whether it is managing children’s academic schedules, handling health emergencies, or supporting aging parents, women often become the default coordinators of family life. Over time, this leads to professional compromises — stepping back from high-intensity roles, declining promotions, or choosing stability over growth. Once this pattern is established, redistributing responsibilities becomes socially and emotionally difficult.
What Can Be Done?
Real change must begin within households through conscious redistribution of responsibilities. At a policy level, incentivizing shared parental leave and normalizing flexible work for both genders can gradually rebalance expectations.
2. Education System Pressure in India – Double burden on working mothers
The Problem:
In the Indian context, the education system adds a uniquely intense burden. The vast syllabus, exam-centric evaluation model, and fierce competition to secure limited seats in institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) or clear examinations like the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) have created an expansive coaching ecosystem. This pressure flows directly into households. In many families, mothers take primary responsibility for managing studies, coordinating coaching classes, and ensuring performance benchmarks are met — all during their own mid-career peak years.
There was hope that the National Education Policy 2020 would reduce this “rat race” and make learning more holistic. However, implementation challenges and limited regulation of private coaching institutions have diluted its impact. Individual parents cannot dismantle this competitive structure; systemic recalibration must come from the state.
Artificial intelligence may eventually act as a balancing force. As traditional IT-heavy career pathways evolve, the singular focus on cracking elite exams may weaken. More diverse disciplines — economics, humanities, entrepreneurship, design — may gain legitimacy. Not every child needs to clear IIT or NEET to succeed. If career pathways diversify, the coaching intensity could gradually reduce, indirectly easing the invisible parental load that disproportionately affects women.
What Can Be Done?
Stronger state regulation of private coaching institutions and genuine implementation of holistic education reforms are essential. At a societal level, redefining success beyond a handful of elite exams can reduce pressure on families.
3. DEI Policies – Intent vs Impact
The Problem:
Many corporates today have Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion frameworks, yet leadership representation remains limited. The issue is not entry-level hiring; it is sustained advancement. Mid-career women often miss out on high-visibility assignments, sponsorship, and strategic roles that shape leadership trajectories. Inclusion without influence results in stagnant boardroom numbers.
What Can Be Done?
Organizations must move beyond hiring metrics to structured sponsorship programs, transparent promotion criteria, and accountability at leadership levels for gender-balanced succession pipelines.
4. Weak Public Support Systems
The Problem:
In the absence of robust public infrastructure for childcare, elder care, and health crises, families absorb systemic gaps internally. During emergencies, it is often assumed that the woman’s career is more “flexible.” Repeated adjustments gradually affect professional continuity and long-term growth.
What Can Be Done?
Expanded public childcare facilities, elder care support, and community-based health infrastructure can reduce dependency on private sacrifice. Institutional safety nets strengthen workforce participation.
5. Mid-Career Mentorship and Sponsorship
The Problem:
While early-career mentoring programs are increasingly common, mid-level women often experience a sponsorship vacuum. This stage coincides with heightened personal responsibilities and peak professional potential. Without leaders advocating for their promotion and protecting their visibility during life transitions, many women plateau or exit.
What Can Be Done?
Formal mid-career sponsorship programs and structured re-entry pathways can ensure temporary slowdowns do not translate into permanent stagnation.
6. Women’s Health and the Invisible Career Impact
The Problem:
Having recently navigated a personal health scare myself, and still being in recovery, I have come to see how easily women deprioritize their own well-being while managing professional and domestic responsibilities. Women’s health journeys are biologically and hormonally different from men’s. The 30s and 40s — the very years when career trajectories are expected to accelerate — are also the years when reproductive decisions, hormonal changes, and other gender-specific health conditions surface more prominently.
As the career clock ticks, so does the biological clock. Health appointments get postponed. Symptoms are minimized. Recovery is rushed. Deliverables continue. The system assumes consistent productivity, but biology does not operate on corporate timelines. When health is repeatedly deferred to accommodate professional and family responsibilities, the consequences eventually compound.
What Can Be Done?
Workplaces must broaden the definition of health support beyond maternity leave. Structured flexibility during treatment periods, phased return models, and gender-sensitive health policies should become standard rather than exceptional. Conversations around women’s health need to move from private endurance to structural acknowledgment.
7. The Compounding Effect of Attrition
The Problem:
When women exit or slow down during their 30s and early 40s, the impact compounds over time. Fewer women in senior roles means fewer role models, fewer decision-makers shaping policy, and fewer champions of systemic reform. This reinforces the perception that leadership remains inherently male-dominated.
What Can Be Done?
Retention must become a strategic priority, not a diversity afterthought. Measuring and addressing mid-career attrition specifically can help widen the leadership pipeline sustainably.
Women’s Day celebration is important — but so is honest reflection. We are participating more than ever before, yet participation without structural support leads to predictable plateaus. The data shows it. Lived experiences confirm it.The question is no more whether women are capable of leading at every level. It is whether our homes, education systems, workplaces, and most importantly public policies are designed to sustain that leadership — through caregiving years, through mid-career transitions, and through health realities that are uniquely ours. Progress does not fail because women lack ambition. It slows when systems remain unchanged. We have moved past the stage when it was about acknowledging resilience. Now is the time about redesigning environments so resilience is not constantly required.
References:
- TOI Article – Corporate India’s boardrooms still a men’s club – https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-incs-boardrooms-still-a-mens-club-report/articleshow/128710350.cms
- Female Labour Force Participation Rate: https://eacpm.gov.in/wp-content/uploa…
- Time Spent on Employment-Related Activities in India: https://eacpm.gov.in/wp-content/uploa…