Only 10 state capitals feature in Avtar’s Top cities for women in India list
*National Capital, not among top 10 cities for women
*Stringent measures needed in cities with lower social inclusion ranking than Industrial inclusion ranking
Bengaluru, 5th January 2023 : Avtar group, India’s pioneers in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), released the ”Top Cities for Women in India” report today. The report which is the culmination of a year-long exercise, is an algorithmic assimilation of data from over 200 sources including current ease of living index, PLFS, national census, crime records, NFHS, Ministry of Women & Child Development’s annual report, the IMF, as well as Avtar’s primary research with employer organizations and women, to arrive at a comprehensive City Inclusion Score®️. Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai have emerged as Top Cities for Women in India with their City Inclusion Scores above 60.
Inclusive organizations are defined as organizations that pursue Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a strategic priority. Here, leaders are vocal advocates of DEI and there is a strong culture of allyship. Women leaders inspire women along the talent pipeline to advance in their careers, intentionally.
Career enablers (as defined by Avtar’s career enabler framework, devised in 2015 and updated each year through primary research) refers to aspects such as mentoring, skill building and Employee Resource Groups (for career progression) and flexible work arrangements, child-care support, and elder care support for managing work-life challenges.
The United Nations (UN) has defined women-friendly cities as those that provide women the access to health, education, employment opportunities, comprehensive urban, social services, and a safe environment. Women-friendly cities are also defined as those where local governments are conscious of women’s issues and perspectives in their planning and decision-making processes. In essence, women friendly cities are those cities where all the residents of that city can equally benefit from the financial, social, and political opportunities presented before them.
The report provides a list of 111 cities for women in India based on their inclusivity parameters towards nurturing a conducive ecosystem for women’s employment. The first-of-its-kind study reports the indices for identifying Top cities for women in India, with indicators for governmental agencies and policy making forums to make cities more conducive for increased women’s workforce participation. The insights from the report are meant to aid corporates to engage with stakeholders to work hand-in-hand in creating enabling ecosystems for women talent to rise to its fullest potential.
According to Avtar’s Top Cities for Women in India report, only nine out of the 111 cities have scored above 50 in their City Inclusion Scores. The capital cities of many states do not feature in the top 25 spots. While state capitals receive a lot of attention – politically, socio-economically, environmentally, and developmentally, their absence in the top 25 necessitates a deeper probe from the side of policy makers to understand the barriers faced by the state capitals in being inclusive for women professionals.
As per the Top cities for Women in India report
• 8 Tamil Nadu Cities were among Top 10 Cities for Women in India in both the categories
• Kerala emerged on top in the State Averages of City Inclusion Score
• The national capital of Delhi secured 30 points less than the top city and ranked 14th in the population of over a million category.
• Cities in south India dominate the top cities for women in India.
• Comparing average scores for each region, Southern region emerges on top closely followed by the West.
Speaking at the launch of the study, Dr. Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group said, “The fact that the South and West regions are more women-friendly in terms of employment is not a surprise, given the politico-historic context of these regions. The rise of cities like Hubli, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, and Coimbatore as promising hubs of women’s employment, due to their high Industrial
