Challenging gender imbalance: Women's sparse presence in insolvency professional roles

Diversity in the form of gender, socio-economic or cultural background, age, interests etc. is not the oomph of the organisational values but rather the reports (recent one being, the Gartner Report) suggest that high diversity and inclusion lead to high performance as it affects the organization and ultimately catalyses the GDP factor of the economy. BCG study, 2018 indicates that high diversity leads to almost double the average innovation revenue. Certain professions, like that of an insolvency professional, are considered diversity-repellent due to implicit gender sensitivity. The global proportion of registered female insolvency professionals is discouraging, even in developed countries (e.g., Australia 8.5 per cent, New Zealand 20 per cent, UK 15 per cent). International research underscores these gaps for various reasons.

Interdisciplinary analysis of India’s position

India’s position is almost similar to its international peers, as the rate of women entrants since 2016 has only increased by one per cent. Though a slight uprise was witnessed in 2019 to 10.4 per cent, however, it fell again to 7.1 per cent in 2020. According to the IBBI’s latest data, the number of women registered as IPs in India is only 249 i.e., 5.68 per cent of the total registered IPs i.e., 4,380, representing a decrease as per the past year’s data. As per the data as of 31 March 2017, there were 96 registered IPs, which steadily grew to 3014 by 31 March 2020. Among registered IPs, the number of women was 275 i.e., 9 per cent. Women participation was lowest amongst IPs with managerial background (4 per cent) and participation was highest in IPs with Company Secretaries background (12 per cent).

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The profession appears influenced by geographical and metropolitan factors, as 25 per cent of women IPs are based in Maharashtra. Followed by women from Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Kolkata with 21 per cent, 12 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. It appears that the choice is influenced by the location of NCLT benches in metro cities, broader trade opportunities in metro cities, statutory regulations limiting geographical operations. As per the latest IBBI’s data, the registered women insolvency practitioners include 140 Chartered Accountants out of 2,879 (4.86 per cent) and 97 from the Company Secretary out of 2,879 professionals (7.9 per cent).

It can be rightly deduced that the skills required for the IPs align well with the training of Chartered Accountants and Company Secretaries. However, there is a noticeable gender disparity in both professions within the insolvency domain.

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Insolvency not a “preferred choice” for females?

There is no concrete evidence to suggest the near-absence of women in the insolvency profession, but the nature and ethos of the profession likely act as deterrents for women. A plethora of reasons to support the argument may be augmented to say that the intersectional viabilities of womanly character and demands of the profession are not palpable. For instance, the nature of assignments are majorly disincentivising as these are socially unacceptable, limited networking opportunities for grabbing assignments due to “gendered occupational niche”, strong-headed approach for handling insolvent entities, untimely and distressing situations that may cause work-life imbalances, societal stereotypes regarding commercial arrangements, action-packed images requiring women to travelling alone also contribute to challenges.

Opportunity for women to thrive

The apparent factors of deterrence in the profession do not require gender-based attention but rather strong personality, rigorous individual involvement, ethical operation within tight timelines is sufficient to break the glass ceiling. The participation of women can foster this profession from their inherent skills of empathy, negotiation, command or leadership and there are examples of women leading the cross-border mandate with family obligations who can inspire young women entrants.

Women’s minimal involvement in this profession need to tame the shackles of gendered essentialism, self-perceptions, personality requirements with the swords of equality, passion and it is just the widespread industrial or sectoral biases that we, as women need to boldly eliminate by active ingression into the field.

Fortunately, India offers a fertile ground for the evolution of insolvency jurisprudence and Indian women can seize this opportunity by entering the profession as a ‘Corporate Surgeons.’ Women need to commit to changing the implicit biases of the profession which could culminate only out of a huge cultural shift. Corporates have acknowledged “THE WOMEN POWER”, other fields must provide an inclusive environment for greater participation.

The author is Partner – Insolvency & Restructuring Practice at Areness. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._