While India is still grappling with the problem of poor gender diversity in leadership roles, more women have turned to entrepreneurship in the last five years.
The data released by LinkedIn shows that women founders have gone up by 2.68 times compared to men founders that increased by 1.79 times between 2016 and 2021.
The report also revealed that the highest growth was seen in the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
The data published in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Report also indicated that women continue to face more barriers in the workplace. The report also highlighted that men were more likely to reach leadership levels by more than 42%.
However, women have turned to entrepreneurship to face the adversities and charter their path of growth and advancement, as it is also a flexible option.
“Our new data is indicative of one thing: working women in India are being held back by more barriers in the workplace when compared to men. But despite the adversity, many women remain undeterred and continue to chart their path by pivoting to entrepreneurship and building careers that allow them to work on their terms with greater flexibility,” Ruchee Anand, Senior Director, India Talent & Learning Solutions at LinkedIn, was quoted by reports as saying.
“We saw this, especially in the years of the pandemic (2020 and 2021) when women sheltered from a shrinking job market by starting their businesses that also created opportunities for other women,” Ruchee added.
