Article
A Qualitative Study of Women Leaders in Indian IT Sector
The Indian IT sector has developed into a global technology and innovation hub but women are underrepresented at senior levels. Progress in women representation among senior leaders is still lagging, even as number of women at entry-level and mid-level positions are increasing. The main aim of this study was to explore the dynamics of women’s leadership in the Indian IT industry while bringing out for particular attention how ambition of individuals, culture within an organization, and social support are deciding women leaders' career advancement. The research is based on a qualitative exploratory design, which involved the use of semi-structured interviews conducted with 15 women leaders working at leading IT companies. Thematic analysis was used to extract key themes on leadership identity, gender challenges and bias, mentorship and sponsorship, work-life integration, and organizational support and culture. The findings indicated that women’s leadership development was influenced by ambition, mentorship and sponsorship, organization support and culture, and social norms, while structural bias concerned career advancement. Organizations built stronger leadership pipelines through providing mentorship and sponsorship support, flexible working policies, and transparent systems with gender equity in all aspects for women leaders. The research developed a context-specific model of women’s leadership development and added to the global gender equity research in providing practical guidelines for inclusive leadership in the Indian IT sector.