Women CXOs missing in unicorn corner rooms
BENGALURU: India's unicorns may be commanding investor attention and scaling rapidly, but their top leadership remains largely male-dominated, according to new data from talent solutions firm Xpheno.
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The report, based on an analysis of 400 CXOs across 117 Indian-born unicorns, found that women hold only 10% of C-suite roles.
This disparity is most pronounced in technology and executive roles. While women constitute 54% of CHROs, they account for just 2% of CEOs and fewer than 1% of CTOs or CIOs. The CMO role fared slightly better, with 18% representation. "Diversity has clearly made inroads into HR but remains marginal in roles historically associated with core business and product functions," the report observes.
The findings point to persistent gender-role clustering: 62% of women CXOs are in HR, while 45% of men are concentrated in CEO, CTO, or CFO roles. Although this division mirrors broader industry trends, the disparity is notable in a
often hailed as progressive. The average age of a CXO in a unicorn stands at 43.5 years. The data reveals an interesting pattern regarding female leadership representation across age groups.
The presence of women in senior positions increases in higher age brackets, indicating they attain these roles later in their professional journey. Statistical analysis shows that whilst only 7% of CXOs between ages 33-37 are women, this percentage rises to 16% for the 48-52 age group.
This pattern suggests that although women are achieving leadership positions, they face a longer path to reach these roles compared to their counterparts.
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"The relative time taken for women leaders to move up the ranks does display a lag in comparison to their male counterparts. Apart from the enterprise contexts of lower supply, challenges with dynamics of acceptance and in many cases the personal context of planned career breaks, do collectively play spoilsport and impact velocity of movement," Siddharth Verma, head of executive search in Xpheno, told TOI. In terms of professional background, women CXOs average 24 years of experience-slightly higher than men at 22 years-and display longer tenures with current employers.
Nearly 60% of women CXOs switched industries and 79% of all CXOs changed functional roles before taking on their current mandates. However, only 31% of women moved locations for their roles, compared to 33% of men.
Educational pedigree plays a significant role in CXO composition. While 58% of CXOs completed their undergraduate degrees at premier institutions, the number rises to 90% for postgraduate education, reinforcing the importance of elite credentials in accessing leadership pipelines.
The CXO pool studied in the report had 119 founders and co-founders. These 33 founders and 86 co-founders are those who hold an active C-suite role in their organisation currently. As the country cements its position as the third-largest unicorn ecosystem globally, the composition of its executive leadership reveals both progress and structural inertia. In March, TOI reported that women also remained significantly underrepresented in India's venture capital (VC) industry, especially in decision-making roles.
Among the 20 most active VC investors that TOI analysed, several firms have no women at all in their investment teams, including Z47, Stellaris Venture Partners, and Nexus Venture Partners. Peak XV Partners has the highest absolute number of women investors, with 13 out of 44, while firms such as Blume Ventures (6 out of 23) and Accel India (5 out of 25) have relatively better representation.
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