They are being employed in substantial numbers at lower and middle rungs of the corporate ladder. However, women in leadership positions in the Indian information technology (IT) industry can literally be counted on the tips of one’s fingers.

Neelam Dhawan heads HP India and Akila Krishnakumar heads SunGard Offshore Services in India. Padmasree Warrior, an Indian-born woman, now heading research and development at Cisco Services as its chief technology officer.

Also Read   Related Stories News Now - India Inc may hire more women this yr: experts - IT firms may move to SEZs with no STPI extension - Seven out of ten, says Infy CEO S Gopalakrishnan - Dell, Google target Indian SMEs for their growth - NIIT Tech sees growth in travel, transportation vertical - Pilot hopes sops for IT cos will continue in Budget

Also Read   Related Stories News Now - Markets open soft on global cues - Bharti Airtel extend gains on acquisition of 49% stake in Qualcomm India - US economy trudges along as others falter - Airlines say carbon law cutting EU off from growth - World stocks eke out gains, euro falls More

The base within the industry is not equally distributed across the chain, also argues Ganesh Shermon, Partner and Head of People and Change Advisory Services, KPMG. “At the mid-levels, the percentage of women might be around 20 per cent, a bit more at the junior levels, but at the senior levels, it will be just five to six per cent,” he says. The proportion of women to men falls radically after the mid-management level, he asserts, with “the incidence of problems related to children or broken homes, which increases drastically where women are pursuing a larger role in the company”.

Pratik Kumar, Executive VP-HR, Wipro Ltd, counters: “This is not really an issue of the IT industry — in fact, the IT industry might be having an even higher percentage of women. The issue is more universal —due to the earlier societal restrictions and the difficulties being faced by the women employees to maintain a work-life balance. But, such problems are ebbing out and we are seeing women employees aspiring for a longer term career, supported by greater understanding from their home front.”

IT companies also believe the scenario will change soon. “It’s only a matter of time. If you look at Infosys, we had about 19 per cent women employees 10 years ago, and today this number has gone up to 34 per cent. And, many of our women employees are holding critical roles and many senior leadership positions within the company. We can even see many women leaders outside who are heading global IT firms in India. So, sooner or later, we are going to see a change in terms of gender inclusivity in the Indian IT sector,” asserts Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO and MD of India’s second largest software company, Infosys Technologies.

For instance, Tata Consultancy Services, India’s largest IT services company, says 30 per cent of its total employee base of about 130,509, as of the quarter ended December 31, 2009, were women. Similarly, mid-sized IT services firm MindTree says the base of women employees in the company, now 26 per cent, almost doubled during the past six years. This is almost similar to most global IT firms with significant operations in India.

But, none of these companies has any woman member on the board. Nasscom believes one of the problems of fewer leadership roles in the IT industry is because the number of women opting for engineering courses is few. But, that is fast changing. The year-on-year growth rate of women opting for the engineering stream increased from 22 per cent in FY 2002 to 125 per cent in FY 2008.

IT firms are also taking active steps to remedy the situation. Wipro, for instance, is promoting gender diversity within the company by forging a ‘WOW Council’ (Women of Wipro Council) almost two years earlier. And, has seen the percentage of women employees in the workforce having risen from 24 per cent to 29 per cent. The company has also started a Gender Diversity Council with many key senior management people as its members, including the joint CEO of Wipro’s IT business, Suresh Vaswani, HR Head Pratik Kumar and Anuraag Behar, who will now head Azim Premji Foundation as a co-CEO.

“We try to give exposure to our women employees to different culture and leadership positions, by providing them with flexibility and adequate training so as to groom them to leadership positions,” says Sunita Cherian, GM - HR and Head of Gender Diversity at Wipro.

IBM started many women-specific programmes in India in 2005, under the aegis of India Women Leadership Council.

“These programmes help employees manage professional and personal development, and helps us in understanding the perception and barriers to their advancement. It also helps them in networking and enhancing their opportunities,” says Seema Ajwani, Chairperson, IBM India Women Leadership Council.

New Ipad Application :Business Standard's all new IPad App Click here to download for free Other Stories      - Markets open soft on global cues - Bharti Airtel extend gains on acquisition of 49% stake in Qualcomm India - US economy trudges along as others falter - Airlines say carbon law cutting EU off from growth - World stocks eke out gains, euro falls

Tags : IT industry | IT firms | Neelam Dhawan | KPMG | international women?s day   Read Business news in  Advertisements -  Journey on, We are by Your Side. Click here to know more -  Benefits Upto Rs. 2.36 Lakhs on the Fully Loaded TJet Petrol. -  Watch The Film Here. Click here to know more.. -  Leader in Passenger Car & Automobile Tyres. Click here -  1 billion in saving for Unilever without any tangles. -  One Partnership Endless Possibilities. Click here to know more -  Helping doctors detect diseases earlier, saving costs & extending lives. -  36 Lakhs can get you a pool of Luxuries. Click here -  Which is the best plan for your daughter -  Check out the TRUE COLOURS of your Stocks, Now for FREE!