Is corporate India blocking women’s path to becoming CEOs?

Corporate India has long debated why so few women reach the top. The usual explanations point to ambition gaps or work–life pressures. But new research suggests the real issue lies elsewhere, in the roles women are given early in their careers.

A study by Aon plc, Gender and Leadership at India Inc., surveyed 1,500 leaders across more than 30 Indian cities, including over 400 women. It found that women and men begin their careers with similar ambitions around growth, purpose, and leadership. Yet their paths diverge over time.

A key reason is structural: women are concentrated in enabling functions, roles that support the business but sit removed from revenue ownership and profit responsibility. Nearly half of women leaders (49%) work in enabling functions, compared with 37% of men. Among leaders under 35, 38% of women work in enabling roles against 22% of men.

The study found that 91% of men have P&L experience, compared with 68% of women, while 90% of men have held sales roles against 45% of women.

The gap isn’t talent. It’s exposure to the roles that create leaders. “The data suggests that India does not have a shortage of capable women; it has a leadership design issue,” says Nitin Sethi, Head of Talent Solutions, India at Aon plc.

“Organisations cannot expect different outcomes if the most impactful P&L and high-stakes roles continue to be filled using existing practices. Businesses serious about sustainable growth must make the placement of women in these roles a deliberate priority.”

One of the most critical missing experiences is sales exposure.

Sales as a Leadership Pathway

Sales remains one of the strongest routes to leadership, yet many women never get onto that path.

“Sales gives you something rare, direct line of sight to customers, revenue, and real business outcomes. Yet we keep losing women from this path long before they get close to owning it. Women are often steered toward ‘supportive’ roles early on, which means they never build the revenue ownership experience that leads to leadership,” says Mankiran Chowhan, Managing Director, Sales & Distribution at Salesforce India.
“The advice women receive, build confidence, be assertive, find a mentor, rarely emphasises the business, strategic, and financial acumen that actually opens doors to the top.”

Manisha Khadge, CMO at Mindbowser, adds: “Exposure to revenue-driving roles such as sales, P&L ownership, and market strategy is critical for shaping leadership readiness. These roles provide firsthand experience in decisions that impact growth, profitability, and long-term strategy.

Women often start in support functions, marketing operations, communications, or HR — which may not provide visibility into revenue accountability. Roles that own numbers, budgets, market expansion, or GTM strategy build strategic perspective, confidence, and credibility within leadership teams.”

Clearing the Path for Women in Revenue Roles

Barriers to women in frontline sales are often quiet but powerful.

“A woman not being handed the marquee account. Feedback that says ‘be more assertive’ without context. Travel demands that assume a particular kind of life. These frictions accumulate and push capable people out at exactly the wrong moments,” says Chowhan.

Structural patterns reinforce these barriers. Khadge explains: “Revenue-facing roles are often treated as high-pressure environments requiring travel, long hours, or aggressive targets. Assumptions around work-life balance sometimes steer women toward roles perceived as more stable. That limits early exposure to commercial decision-making, stretch assignments, and revenue ownership, all essential for senior leadership readiness.”

Representation plays a powerful role

“When women rarely see others leading profit centres or major accounts, it signals what leadership ‘looks like,’ shaping aspirations. I deliberately expanded my scope beyond marketing to go-to-market strategy, demand generation, new market entry, and close collaboration with sales. That positioned my role closer to the organisation’s growth engine,” says Khadge.

Rethinking Leadership Pathways

Experts say the solution lies in making commercial exposure intentional. “Too often organisations focus on coaching women on confidence and communication. But what really opens doors to leadership is business acumen, financial visibility, and strategic exposure — and women are rarely given enough of it,” says Chowhan.

“Place women on strategic accounts, give them real P&L ownership and ensure they have senior sponsors who advocate for them.”

Structural changes also matter. Sangeeta Giri Gundala, SVP and Chief Operating Officer, South Asia at Salesforce, says: “In hiring, we need to examine where we source talent and whether our criteria inadvertently filter women out. It’s equally important to monitor who gets high-stakes, revenue-critical assignments and course-correct when patterns emerge.”

“Mentoring matters, but sponsorship drives careers. Every high-potential woman in your organisation should have a senior leader actively opening doors for her.”

Some organisations are experimenting with earlier commercial exposure. “Rotating high-potential talent through client strategy, pricing and deal negotiations early in their careers builds the commercial judgement needed to manage profit centres,” says Khadge.