Women in Management in the New Economic Environment: The Case of India PAWAN S. BUDHWAR*, DEBI S. SAINI** & JYOTSNA BHATNAGAR** *Aston Business School, Birmingham, UK, **Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India ABSTRACT Liberalization of the Indian economy has created considerable employment oppor- tunities for those, including women, who possess marketable skills and talent. Historically, women in India have not enjoyed a good status in workplace settings whether in managerial or operative roles. This traditional positioning of women has restricted the intensity of their efforts towards realizing the benefits of the globalisation process. An attempt has been made in this contribution to highlight the important issues relating to women in management in the Indian context. The messages from a review of the literature are analysed. Research evidence from various sources is presented to highlight the dynamics of developments in the status of Indian women managers. The contribution discusses the main aspects of the historical, socio-cultural and economic factors influencing women managers: issues concerning gender-based stereotypes; the main barriers to women’s movement to top managerial positions; the impact of developments in information technology (IT) on women managers; and the way forward. Results from two research projects are also presented. The analysis has important messages for practitioners and contributes to women’s studies and management in the Indian context. KEY WORDS: India, Women in management, approaches to work, barriers, challenges, careers, gender stereotypes Introduction Since independence in 1947, the percentage of women in the Indian workforce has been on a steady increase (Datt & Sundharam, 1999). This pattern is expected to continue in the future. The economic reforms initiated in the early 1990s have resulted in many macro-level changes in Indian organizations (see Datt, 2003). Among others, the liberalized Indian economy has created a large number of employment opportunities for women, though mainly for educated women residing in urban areas (Das, 2003). To survive in the current dynamic business environment, firms operating in India are also now looking for talented human resources (see Budhwar & Boyne, 2004). They are now realizing the need for changing their traditional stance towards women employees as well 1 . At present, women in India comprise approximately 31 per cent of the official workforce - both in rural and urban (and formal as well as informal) sectors (United Nations, 1360-2381 Print/1743-792X Online/05/020179 – 15 q 2005 Taylor & Francis Ltd DOI: 10.1080/1360238042000291199 Correspondence Address: Pawan S. Budhwar, Reader in OB&HRM, South Wing 712, Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET, UK. Email: p.s.budhwar@aston.ac.uk Asia Pacific Business Review Vol. 11, No. 2, 179–193, June 2005