Abstract

ABSTRACT
Earlier leadership theories focused on The Great Man theory and women were at all excluded
from being seen as a leader due to fact that earlier people considered men and women having
different behavior, different skills and attitudes. However with changing time, status of women
gained importance and now in this dynamic world woman entrepreneurs are an important part of
the corporate sector. This paper studies the increasing role of women leaders in banking industry.
It shows that organizations with women executives at the top levels have increased the
performance and efficiency of the company compared to those which do not have women leaders
at senior positions. The banking Sector in India was male dominating till 1980‟s but in last three
decades the gender equality became fairly poised. Women executives like Chanda Kochhar
(CEO, ICICI Bank), Kalpana Morparia(MD and CEO ICICI Holdings) and Naina Lal Kidwai
(CEO,HSBC) contributed a lot to the company‟s growth. This paper studies the factors which
make women so successful in the Indian Banking Industry and what are the main challenges
among them. This paper also suggests some remedial measures that the companies should adopt
to retain women longer in the workplace and to offer opportunities to women to move into
toppositions.
KEYWORDS: Women Leadership, entrepreneurship, banking industry
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INTRODUCTION
The liberalization process of the Indian economy has penetrated deep into the lives of people
including women. Historically, women are considered as the weaker sex, as a result, for the past
centuries, women are deprived of most of the rights of the opposite sex, particularly the issue
about leadership and management. Earlier the women were confined to household chores. This
is particularly because of the issue of leadership. The early leadership theories focused on the
Great Man theory, thus, all of the theories primarily focus on describing men and male leaders.
As a result, women are all excluded from being seen as a leader, due to the fact that during that
time, literatures and researchers considered men and women having different behaviours, skills
and attitudes, consequently, the said differences between the two sexes are considered as hinder
for women in terms of career advancement (Morrison & Von Glinow 1990).women are the
nucleus of our civilization. She has different roles to play in ever changing social environment.
Women‟s development, thus, is directly related with nation‟s development. With the dawn of
independence, our constitution guaranteed gender equality, and a large number of schemes and
programmes for women‟s development were initiated. But despite of these measures, Indian
women entrepreneurs continues to live and strive in a complex situation of socio-cultural,
International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management

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historical, political and economic realities. It took centuries for women‟s role to unfold in
different forms, shape and size to move in a new direction. Still there are localities where women
still listen to code of conduct written on there four walls by male dominating society however in
some localities women‟s are fighting back these problems and are trying to come out there four
walls which are holding them back to show there skills, abilities and interests.
However, with changing times, the potential of women was recognized and gradually status of
women gained importance. Although the Government of India strived to break through such
gender discrimination by introducing various initiatives like emphasis on women‟s education,
abolition of child marriages, women health activities, etc., but the results were not fruitful.
Historically many freedom fighters and leaders took up many movement against women‟s
subjugation to men it means there is no discrimination between men and women in the eye of our
constitution. Then where does this difference lies?
This difference lies no where but in minds of our society and some where in our culture which
never wanted women‟s to step out of there abode. Previously it was always the male member to
step out to earn living for his family then came a time where women started coming out to earn
but only under the condition where male member was absent or was unable to work, and it was
considered as a condition of pity for that women and his family as well. But it took so many ages
for women to come out and earn there interest and feel proud about themselves. It was always a
son who used to take over his father‟s business but with the changing role of women now this
scenario has also changed now there are many examples where a girl is contributing his best with
her parental business. The growing Indian middle class shed apprehensions about educating the
girl child and gave due importance for higher studies. Educating women has changed the role of
women. Gradually, women‟s education was encouraged and due importance given to women‟s
career and professional life
In this dynamic world, women entrepreneurs are an important part of the global quest for
sustained economic development and social progress. In the words of president APJ Abdul
Kalam "empowering women is a prerequisite for creating a good nation, when women are
empowered, society with stability is assured. Empowerment of women is essential as their
thoughts and their value systems lead to the development of a good family, good society and
ultimately a good nation."
WOMEN’S CAREER DEVELOPMENT HINDRANCE IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY
This can be observed in the banking industry – which is the largest financial sector. However,
globally, it can be observed that there is a vital difference between the proportions
of women managers between the industrialized or developed countries with those developing
countries. For instance, in the USA, 37% of the management positions are handled
by women (US Bureau of Labor Statisservtics 2005), this percentage is high compare with only
20% in the entire European Union (European Commission 2005) and only 26% in Germany
(German Institute for Research in Economics 2007.
There are different studies which show the different factors or aspects which affect and result
to challenges and hindrance in career development of women in the banking industry as well as
other industries in the world.
The main or general barriers towards the development and advancement of the careers of
the women in the industry are

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Stereotypes
recruiting practices
the lack of access towards the powerful networks and connections
the issue about family
process of balancing the time and effort exerted in work and family
In many countries laws and regulations are designed in order to protect and give special
treatment towards the women, particularly those with family and single parents. This includes
financial benefits, maternity protection and rights for the working parents. While the maternity
protection law include protection from dismissal to those employees expecting to be a mother.
This also includes protection from any harmful and risky tasks and influences in the workplace
which prohibits them to work on Sundays, holidays as well as at night. It is important to consider
that all of the expenses and cost of the programs and benefits stated above will all be solely
handled by the employers. As a result, this gives the employers to hesitate in employing female
managers because, in case of pregnancy and family matters, there are laws and regulations which
give them the rights to excuse from their work, which is very important because managerial
and leadership position in banking industry is considered as vital and complicated. Therefore, it
will be beneficial and feasible for the employers to employ male leaders and managers.
SCENARIO IN INDIAN BANKING INDUSTRY
Many experts opined that organizations with women executives at top levels have increased the
performance and efficiency of the company compared to the companies which do not have
women leaders at senior positions. Companies with diversity on their boards, productivity is
better. Having more women on the boards of companies does help. Women would moderate risk
and would be more balanced. "If UK banks had more women on their boards, the scenario
postrecession
would have been a lot different."
Indian banks, with better gender equality on board than their western counterparts, scraped
though the economic slowdown unscathed
The banking sector in India did have its male domination till the 1980s, but in the last
three decades the gender equilibrium became 'fairly' poised.
Chanda Kochhar
ICICI Bank, India's second largest bank after State Bank of India, is headed by a woman, Chanda
Kochhar
In mid-1980s the chairman and managing director of ICICI, Suresh S. Nadkarni exhorted Lalita
Gupte, trainee (at that time), to prove her potential in the organisation. He advised:
“If you do not succeed, there will be no other woman in this organisation.”
KalpanaMorparia
Kalpana Morparia played a major role in transforming ICICI Bank from being a financial
institution to a `one-stop shop' providing an array of financial services right from project
financing to retail products. Morparia will be the new MD and CEO of ICICI Holdings, the new
arm for insurance, mutual fund business.

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Naina Lal Kidwai
There are many firsts to Naina Lal Kidwai's credit. Naina Lal, CEO of HSBC, is the first Indian
woman to graduate from the Harvard Business School. Also, she has the distinction of being the
first woman to head the operations of a foreign bank in India.
Women executives – Chanda Kochhar, Shikha Sharma, Lalita Gupte, Madhavi Puri Buch and
Kalpana Morparia head various portfolios of the company bringing up in phenomenal changes
and contributed to the company‟s growth. The company played a significant role and has acted
as a catalyst in facilitating its women to hold senior positions.
According to a study by Standard Chartered Bank about women on corporate boards in India,
the financial sector performs best in terms of gender diversity, nine of the eleven banks listed
on BSE-100 have a woman on their board and two of these banks have a female CEO. In
fact, through the recent recession, Reserve Bank of India had two women deputy governors
on board, Usha Thorat and Shyamala Gopinath.
Many people agree that many banks that were headed by women CEOs performed much
better at time of recession. In this sense, the banking and financial services sector has been
particularly lucky.
For, while only 11% of the companies across sectors in India had women CEOs, 54% of
these CEOs come from the financial services sector, says a recent EMA Partners
International study. In the Fortune 500 list though, financial services just accounted for 7% of
the women CEOs.
WHAT MAKES WOMEN SO SUCCESSFUL IN THE INDIAN BANKING INDUSTRY?
The present data clearly indicates that management in general has become much more
human-oriented, even in the face of some incredible advancement in technology. As a
result, scholars and professionals alike have recognized the need for people with better
'Soft' skills that include communicating, networking, empowering, delegating, and
counseling among others.
Retail banking is more of a relationship thing and women excel at that. In the Indian
context, while women have started venturing out to work in the corporate world, they
have been handling relationships at home too, as a wife or a mother. "This nurturing and
adjusting attitude flows into the workplace as well."
The mid-80s saw a number of smart women graduating from the B-schools just when the
Indian banking sector was starting to grow. ICICI, HDFC, HSBC, Citibank, were all
expanding and were hiring during the mid-80s and the early 90s.
Women have done well in banking because it is a business where you need to keep in
mind what the customer wants. Women have some amount of empathy towards a
customers needs.
Most women bankers agree that one of main advantages they had was the support system
from their family. There may be numerous cases to belie their observation but for the
achievers, family support made all the difference. "There is family, in-laws, friends and
domestic staff that offer support to the household, which makes it easier for the woman to
focus on her career.

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Companies are increasingly recognizing the talent of women and placing them in a
required position. Earlier, women were risk-averse but with changing times they are
becoming risk-takers as men and focusing on long-term interests of the company. In
general, operating and managing businesses by women are significantly different with
that of men. Studies showed that the styles of leadership of both men and women can be
effective depending n the business circumstances but women‟s leadership has more edge.
In today‟s world, leadership is becoming more results-oriented than process-driven.
Moreover, organizations with more women executives are experiencing better results or
improved financial performance than companies with few women leaders. Traits like
patience, commitment, understanding others‟ concerns and so on are in-built in women,
which are very helpful in building strong business relationships.
Women managers tend to have more of a desire to build than a desire to win.
Women tend to be better than men at empowering staff.
Women encourage openness and are more accessible.

Women leaders respond more quickly to calls for assistance.
Women identify problems more quickly and more accurately.
When feeling the sting of rejection, women leaders learn from adversity and carry on
with an "I'll show you" attitude.
Women leaders demonstrate an inclusive, team-building leadership style of problem
solving and decision making.
Women leaders are more likely to ignore rules and take risks
CHALLENGES OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR’S
Women leadership is invisible, that is, women leaders take a back seat to submit to men
leaders since the corporate world is a „man‟s industry‟.
Women leaders are more assertive and persuasive, have a stronger need to get things
done and are more willing to take risks than male leaders
Leadership remains as a domain dominated by men as it is directly associated with
authoritarianism to which the women lacks.
Tokenism prevails in the corporate world that endangers the value of women leaders in
comparison of men leaders.
Women leaders themselves have lower expectations than that of men leaders
thus women leaders are more hindered by the entitlement effect.
Women faces more challenges before becoming leaders compared to that of
the challenges experienced by men.

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REMEDIAL MEASURES
Companies need to recognize that leadership skills are “common at the top” for both
men and women executives –and women do not require any special privileges that
highlight their abilities to multi-task or provide emotional intelligence or empathy.
Women can deliver best in an “environment of respect.” -- With best employer
practices in place, that offer career advancement opportunities to senior women to
move into top-positions. These companies will be able to retain women longer in the
workforce.
HR leaders and CEOs will need to redefine “Best-Employer” organizations, from the
traditional and outdated indexes to ones that include best practices for building a
sustainable organization, with a corporate code for women employees, and diversitydashboard.
There is a clear need to focus on mentoring the Indian corporate mind-set to get past
the “subtle glass ceiling” and resolving inequities in the workplace, for leveraging
best talent and performance among women executives.
There is an important need for Mentoring women in the “successor generation” – so
that they are able to meet the challenges in a male-dominated workplace –while they
are trying to also maintain their work-family commitment in the early stages of their
career.
Women need to market themselves better in the organization – and create visibility in
external networks. This is one of the key invisible barriers to women‟s advancement
There exists a hesitation to appoint women as Directors on company board – both
executive and independent – as they bring in a „novelty-factor” that may upset the
comfort-zone. As companies aspire to become global leaders and bring innovative
thinking in the organization – investors and market consumers will begin to look for
more women on company Boards.
Diversity programs in organizations provide an excellent network for women
executives in the organization.
Appraisal systems need to be more gender-neutral in corporate India, and interview
panels should be more inclusive.

Women need to unambiguously celebrate their success – and there is need for more
success stories to be outreached, more women role-models to learn from, and more
networks for experience-sharing.

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SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENTHSEquality
of opportunity
Equal pay for equal work
Reservation for women in parliament
and state legislative bodies
Right to education
Full voting rights
WEAKNESSESEmotional
behavior
Back seat of women leader to submit to
men leaders
Lack of authoritarianism
Lower expectations than men
Discrimination
Networking
OPPORUNITIESHigher
education
Reservation of different sectors
Social support
THREATSSexual
Harassment
Family commitment
Support from spouse
Traditional mindset of society
Maintain the balance between work and
home
Faces more challenges than men
HR INITIATIVE FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
• On campus day-care centre – (McAfee India)
• Flexi- Timing to accommodate early parenthood
• Extended maternity leaves
• Adoption maternity leave – (IBM)
• A certain amount of payment of the legal expenses incurred while adopting a child –
(HP)
• Cab drops during pregnancy
• Post maternity leaves without pay for 6months to 1yr – IBM, Infosys)
CONCLUSION
Entrepreneurship among women, no doubt improves the wealth of the nation in general and of
the family in particular. Women today are more willing to take up activities that were once
considered the preserve of men, and have proved that they are second to no one with respect to
contribution to the growth of the economy. Women entrepreneurship must be molded properly
with entrepreneurial traits and skills to meet the changes in trends, challenges global markets and
also be competent enough to sustain and strive for excellence in the entrepreneurial arena. A

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197
woman has proved themselves as successful leaders in politics as well as in various
organizations. Women are now participate in all activities such as education, politics, media, art
and culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc. There are lots of problems which a
women faces during her careers growth.
Women need to be more practical. Women need to become more aware so they can reposition
their behavior to develop a style that feels right and delivers effective leadership
1. Introduction
In Vedic times women occupied the highest place in society.
They were given all opportunities to develop themselves,
socially, intellectually and morally. They were given
thorough education. Similarly there is a positive change in
the present society, which is focusing on women
empowerment. The progress of any country is intimately
linked to its ability to develop and use its human resource
effectively. This is particularly true in a developing country
like India. Women, as a significant part of this human
resource pool, play a vital role in the economic, social and
political development of India. Nationalization of the Indian
Banking Sector in 1969 served as the first major step to
reduce gender discrimination against women in banking
sector and that provided opportunity for women
empowerment. The pattern of Indian women's employment
has changed significantly since the 1970’s. Many major
Indian banks are hiring highly qualified young Indian
women to their administrative levels and they are showing

remarkable growth over the years.
2. Objectives of the study
1) To identify the problems of women in the Indian banking
sector.
2) To suggest the measures to overcome the problems.
3. Methodology
The present study is based on secondary data and the data
were collected from journals, books, news papers, RBI
annual reports and other websites.
4. Spotlight on Women in Indian Banks
The number of talented women with a finance background
joining into the banking sector is increasing every year.
Women constitute a little over 11% of the workforce in the
banking industry (Khandelwal, 1988).The Indian
government appointed a committee in the year 2009, to look
at human resource issues of public sector banks under the
chairmanship of former Chairman and Managing Director of
Bank of Baroda and Anil Khandelwal. The Khandelwal
Committee made some far-reaching recommendations, some
of which were accepted by banks and the government.
According to the committee's report published in 2010, at
that time women accounted for only 17 per cent of
employees in state-run banks, of which only 2.7 per cent of
women were in executive positions.
“Women started joining banks only in the late 70s and
mostly at clerical levels. With career progression reaching
an apex, the industry is likely to have more women at the top

in the years to come. And when they do come, they are not
just considered women, but as leaders and role models,”
says Subhalakshmi Panse, chairperson-cum-managing
director (CMD) of Allahabad Bank, who took over the reins
in 2012. Not only in the higher levels that we can see had the
involvement of women but also in the clerical levels also
women are more attracted. Secured family life, attractive
salary, favourable working conditions and the stability in
work are some of the reasons that make this sector more
preferable to women.
According to a study by Standard Chartered Bank about
women on corporate boards in India, the financial sector
performs best in terms of gender diversity, nine of the eleven
banks listed on BSE-100 have a woman on their board and
two of these banks have a female CEO. In fact, through the
recent recession, Reserve Bank of India had two women
deputy governors on board, Usha Thorat and Shyamala
Gopinath.
According to the 2013 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women
Executive Officers and Top Earners, women represented
17.6 percent of executives and 17.9 percent of the board of
directors in the finance and insurance sector. In 2012,
women represented 23.1 percent of all senior officers in
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Financial Post 500 companies, and in 2013 11.4 percent of
chief financial Officers of Fortune 500.
The banking Sector in India which was male dominated till
1980’s, in last three decades the gender equality became
fairly poised. Women executives like Chanda Kochhar
(CEO, ICICI Bank), and Naina Lal Kidwai (CEO,HSBC),
Arundathi Bhattacharya,(CMD SBI), Shikha Sharma(CEO
and MD, Axis Bank), Usha Ananthasubramanian (CEO, MD
Punjab National Bank), are contributing a lot to the bank’s
growth. The below table presents the class-wise distribution
of all scheduled commercial banks employees and women
representation in it. From the below table we can observe
that the number of female employees in the banking sector is
increasing year after year. 6. Strategies to Overcome from the Problems
The first step in addressing the unconscious biases and
assumptions is to get people recognize and understand these
in their own thoughts and behaviour. Management may
require some training to help them do this. Some firms are
taking measures to improve awareness of gender issues,
using workshops and reverse mentoring,
The second, and perhaps the most important step in
eliminating biases is ensuring that these assumptions about
what it takes to be an effective leader do not influence hiring
decisions, promotions, the allocation of career opportunities

and performance evaluations. To bring this about, senior
management should change their recruitment and promotion
criteria and set targets for attracting and developing a
diverse set of leaders.
Employers who want to help women advance to the top must
do more to make allowances for life outside of work. They
must make sure that even ambitious and talented employees
do not feel that they will have to work hours incompatible
with a family life. Women in banking who require flexible
working conditions need to feel emotionally empowered to
take full advantage of them.
The Women's Wing of the AICOBOO has been taking up
these issues systematically. One outcome of their work has
been the charter of demands they submitted to their union
confederation. These included:
6.1 Infrastructural facilities such as creches and day care
centres.
6.2 Provision of hostels for working women,
accommodation for divorced, separated and widowed
women with children.
6.3 Special leave with a lien on service, for up to say five
years, to meet certain contingencies specific to women,
extending this facility to men also whenever required.
6.4 Provision for a woman with a child less than three years
old to work for fewer hours and receive proportionate pay.
6.5 Family pension and voluntary retirement for men and
women after twenty years of service.

6.6 Provision for flexi-hours and part-time employment in
suitable cases.
6.7 Although maternity leave (12 weeks in all) is regarded as
fairly satisfactory, additional provisions required are medical
benefits, hospitalization, leave for the purpose of child care,
paternity leave for at least ten days, and further leave for
those who have to look after an infant in special
circumstances. The Ministry of Labour is expected to amend
the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, which presently entitles
women to 12 weeks of maternity benefit whereby employers
are liable to pay full wages for the period of leave.
6.8 The specific demands put forward by the Women's Wing
include a uniform transfer policy in all banks for women
officers, and a cell to deal with women's issues in every
bank's personnel department. They are currently trying to
formulate demands relating to training programmes and time
off for women to do union work.
Similarly the All India Bank Employees Association
(AIBEA) initiated a women's wing of the union to take up
issues specially affecting women. The Reserve Bank of
India has a Women's Forum for the same purpose. The
unions in the LIC have begun to organize women-only
meetings and workshops. The Insurance Employees
Association decided in 1991 to organize women employees
more effectively, as the number of women employees was
increasing day by day, with over 75 per cent of the new
recruits being women. The association has demanded

crèches facilities, special leave and better working
conditions for women, and the removal of hidden
discrimination.
Each PSB has to come out with a HRD plans for
development of women and SC / ST employees. A special
HRD effort has to be put in place for developing these
groups in key skills of banking. Training strategy to focus on
staff working in rural areas and women employees and
priority to be accorded for regular in-house training to rural
staff. Many of the Banks do not have transfer policy which
gives consideration to the special problems which female
officers/employees face vis-a-vis their male counterparts.
Government of India, Ministry of Finance and Department
of Financial Services has issued guidelines to all Public
Sector Banks including IDBI & SBI Associates, so that
transfers of female officers and employees can be considered
with compassion and their hardship can be mitigated to the
extent possible. National Institute of Bank management
(NIBM) is also organising workshops for female clerical
staff, officers and managers.
One way of improving prospects for women could be to
restructure the work, for example with flexible working
hours, part time job assignments, split location positions
performed partly at home and job and job sharing
(Mankidey 1988). Banks should be encouraged to have a
formal mentorship program in which new employees are
assigned mentors who are responsible for helping the new

recruit to fit into the central core of the organization.
Finally, if financial firms are to make progress on increasing
diversity, they cannot treat it as a side-line activity.
Increasing diversity must be a priority for the most senior
management in the firm and not merely for HR.
7. Conclusion
Increasing women literacy, growing economic pressure, and
the burning desire to gain economic and social independence
are pushing womenfolk to take up gainful career. The
phenomenal growth of banks has created massive
employment opportunities for the educated women of our
nation. Feminine traits no doubt help them perform better
than male colleagues in certain aspect of delivery of banking
service Researches have shown that having women on
boards provides genuine value addition to decision-making.
We have a distance to go, especially in the larger society,
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whose attitudes determine how women are viewed and
valued, including in corporate life.
Gender diversity is a term referring to how different genders are represented in a relevant setting.
Primarily this term is
often used to refer to females and males, though is some contexts and research the terms may also
refer to those who fall
into non-binary categories of gender.
India is a country with diverse traditions and customs. In all the religions, women hold a venerable
position.
Unfortunately, since ages, the role of women was confined to household chores and limited to
domestic issues. In the
male-dominated Indian society, women suffered to extreme levels of exploitation. Some factors –
like death of bread
winner, sudden fall in family income or inadequate family income – forced women to seek
employment in informal
sector (small trader, artisan or field laborer on a family farm) but yet, that did not result in women
Diversity.Most of the
women executives in private and public sector banks feel lots of problems as compared to their male
counterpart. The
thought of attending to new born baby, toddlers, children returning from school, etc., distract the
attention of women
executives in their thirties. This has an adverse effect on the productivity of female executives. Some
executives find it
very difficult to manage male subordinates and have a tough time in extracting work from them. The
very submissive
nature of women executives come in the way of dealing with customers. It is also reported that the
higher ups dump the
work on submissive female executives which result in overloading the executives. In other words the
very feminine
nature does not permit them to resist the overload.
Since executives like cashier, teller, accountant, loan officer, portfolio managers, FOREX officer,
assistant branch
manager, etc., cannot leave the bank without tallying the account, the family members of female
executives suffer more
and executive concerned experience more mental stress than the male counterparts which have an
adverse effect on the
psychological health of the women executives. Besides women executives have to bear the verbal
abuse of angry and
irate customers. This upsets psychological wellbeing of women executives. Some times when male
chauvinist happens to
be a performance appraiser in the capacity of higher ups, he shows his bias in the appraisal exercise.
Similarly male
chauvinist happens to be the subordinates; they willfully disobey the instructions of women
executives and deliberately
prolong the work. In the same vein, women executives do not get any cooperation from the peers in
other departments of
the bank thanks to male chauvinist attitude.
Problems and Challenges faced by Working Women in the Workplace
1. Balancing between paid employment and family care.
2. Work related stress problems faced by working women.
3. Victims of physical harassment and unfair treatment in the workplace.
4. Tolerance of abuse, violence, harassment and discrimination.
5. Sexual harassment, mental pressure and safety problems.
6. Prejudiced and stereotyped thinking faced by working women.
II. OBJECTIVES
1. To Find the Problems faced by Working Women in Banking Sector i.e. Govt. and Private.
2. To verify that whether these problems are actually exist for Working Women in Banking Sector i.e.
Govt. and
Private.
III. LITERATURE REVIEW
Kumar, Sundararan and Mahendran in their study “Complication Faced by Women Executives in
New Generation
Private Sector Banks in Pondicherry State”, found that there are certain problems faced by women
executives for their
professional duties like heavy workload, physical strain, the pain of dealing with illiterate customers,
difficulties
experienced in getting work done from the male subordinates and lack of time to attend to the
needs of family members,
B
Manisha et al., International Journal of Emerging Research in Management &Technology
ISSN: 2278-9359 (Volume-5, Issue-2)
© 2016, IJERMT All Rights Reserved Page | 42
etc. If these problems are overcome than there is a smooth professional journey of women
executives. Whereas Haq in
their study “Inter sectionality of Gender and other forms of identity: Dilemmas and challenges facing
women in
India”, explore the different challenges that women are facing in India due to the intersectionality of
gender and other
forms of identities impacting on their personal and professional lives. Today in modern era the
women are not only
compromising in education and healthcare but also compromising in their personal and professional
development by
being undervalued, underemployed and under-rewarded. Researcher suggest that some social
implications like
awareness programmes, changing attitudes and corporate social responsibility interventions helps
towards improving the
quality of women in the society. In the study of Kumar and Sundar “Problem Faced by Women
Executives Working
in Public Sector Banks in Puducherry”, studied the factors such as taking care of the family
combining domestic work
and office work leaves no time for making women fit for higher posts and the stress resulting from
this Physical strain
has been identified as a prime factor. The Fear of transfer which disturbs family life and domestic
peace and the
exploitation due to submissive nature of women executives has been discriminated as second
important factor in giving
better performance. It is also interpreted that women executives attach more significance to family
life while they are not
neglecting the professional life. Therefore women executives prefer to accomplish any challenge
without affecting their
role in the family. There is a another study of “Problems faced by working women in Banking sector
of Bhawalpur”
by Abid”, studied the various problems faced by working women in banking sector and its impact on
the balancing
between their professional & personal life of married women in comparison to unmarried women.
They further found
that their parents have supportive attitude towards their daughter which gives strength to them in
comparison of married
women. Whereas sometimes relatives created the problems, so parents of working women should
communicate other
relative and society in order to build the trust regarding the transparency of this sector.
IV. RESEARCH DESIGN
In this exploratory empirical research, data is collected by questionnaire from 71 respondents from
the different Banks of
Sonepat District (Both Private and Public Banks) and try to find out the problem faced by Women
workers in banking
sector. In the questionnaire, we try to cover the problems of both aspect of life, problems in
professional life as well as of
personal life. Further, we try to explore the problem of different marital status respondent to have
complete idea
regarding the problems and their causes.
A. Data Collection:
To meet the objectives of present study, Primary and secondary data are collected for the present
study. Primary data has
been collected through the well-structured questionnaire. The main respondents targeted were
working women of
selected banks. Secondary data have been collected through different records and accounts of the
concerned banks,
various publications and journals of banks.
B. Hypothesis of the study:
1. H0 =There are different number of problems for working women in different banking sector.
H1 = There is no problem faced by the working women in different Banking sector
2. H0 =There are more problems related to family and profession for married than single working
women.
H1 = There are not more problems related to family and profession for married than single working
women.
V. LIMITATIONS
A best effort is put for this study; however some limitations still exists in this study which are as
follows. In this research,
Majority of the respondents are in having the experience of 1 to 10 and ages between 18 to 40 and
mostly graduates.
Executive level responses are not included in this research that should have been the part of the
future researches. Banks
of only sonepat city are taken for collecting responses. Responses from city as well as rural banks
from villages can be
taken in the future researches as the condition of women is worst in rural areas.
VI. DATA ANALYSIS
A. Confirmation Process
Confirmation of Hypothesis is prepared after the data analysis using chi square test as an analysis
tool on the data
collected which makes us able to prepare the recommendations.
B. Relationship between Banking Sector and Problems
Table: 1 Study of Relationship Between Banking Sector and Problems
Problems Total
A lot Few Some
Sector
Government
Count 3 20 9 32
% within Sector 9.4% 62.5% 28.1% 100.0%
% within Problems 60.0% 48.8% 36.0% 45.1%
% of Total 4.2% 28.2% 12.7% 45.1%
Private Count 2 21 16 39

Today in the modern era banking sector played a vital role. This sector attract the different
jobseeker especially women.
But there are some problems which associated with job and vary with the banking sector like: time
management, work
overload, work schedule control, work hours and their fit with preferences and work-life conflict
among full-time
employees etc. This is studied in the below table.
When reading the above tables we are interested in the results of the "Pearson Chi-Square" row. We
can see in Table 1
that χ (1) = 1.509, p = .470 >.05.By this result we reject are null hypothesis and conclude that there is
no problem faced
by working women in different banking sector. The cross tabulation table shows that in both the
government and private
sector banks working women have few problems.
C. Relationship between Marital Status and Problems
There are some problems associated with the job in banking sector and vary with the marital status
of a women like a
married women need to work both at home and office so she feels more stress as compared to
single women. Along with
that a married women carries more responsibilities like taking care of spouse and children, giving
them education and
similar other things. In this way she did not get time for herself and face problems at workplace
which is also depicted in
the below table.
Table: 2 Study of Relationship Between Marital Status and Problems
Problems Total
A lot Few Some
Marital
Status
Married
Count 4 25 19 48
% within Marital Status 8.3% 52.1% 39.6% 100.0%
% within Problems 80.0% 61.0% 76.0% 67.6%
% of Total 5.6% 35.2% 26.8% 67.6%
Single
Count 1 16 6 23
% within Problems 20.0% 39.0% 24.0% 32.4%
% of Total 1.4% 22.5% 8.5% 32.4%
Total
Count 5 41 25 71
% within Problems 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
% of Total 7.0% 57.7% 35.2% 100.0%
Chi-Square Tests
Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 1.978a
2 .372
Likelihood Ratio 2.028 2 .363
N of Valid Cases 71
When looking into the Table 2 we can see that χ (1) = 1.978, p = .372 >.05. This also tells us that
there is no statistically
significant association between marital status and problems faced; that is, both married and
unmarried have same
problems. The cross tabulation table also shows that both married and unmarried working women
have few problems in
their job.
% within Sector 5.1% 53.8% 41.0% 100.0%

% within Problems 40.0% 51.2% 64.0% 54.9%
% of Total 2.8% 29.6% 22.5% 54.9%
Total
Count 5 41 25 71
% within Sector 7.0% 57.7% 35.2% 100.0%
% within Problems 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
% of Total 7.0% 57.7% 35.2% 100.0%
Chi-Square Tests
Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided)
2 .470
N of Valid Cases 71
D. Relationship between Working Women’s Age and Problems
When we look at the problems faced by working women we see that age also plays an important
factor as we can see that
youngsters are more energetic now a days so they don’t think some problems as problems as
compared to aged peoples.
Like aged people require more quiet and comfortable environment while the new generation do not
get bothered from
such issues. In the below table we checked the same but results shows that age doesn’t matter
problems are same for all
age group.
Table: 3 Study of Relationship Between Working Women’s Age and Problems
Problems Total
A lot Few Some

Age
18-25 Years
Count 1 17 6 24
% within Age 4.2% 70.8% 25.0% 100.0%
% within Problems 20.0% 41.5% 24.0% 33.8%
% of Total 1.4% 23.9% 8.5% 33.8%
26-40 Years
Count 2 18 12 32
% within Age 6.2% 56.2% 37.5% 100.0%
% within Problems 40.0% 43.9% 48.0% 45.1%
% of Total 2.8% 25.4% 16.9% 45.1%
Above 40 Years
Count 2 6 7 15
% within Age 13.3% 40.0% 46.7% 100.0%
% within Problems 40.0% 14.6% 28.0% 21.1%
% of Total 2.8% 8.5% 9.9% 21.1%
Total
Count 5 41 25 71
% within Age 7.0% 57.7% 35.2% 100.0%
% within Problems 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
% of Total 7.0% 57.7% 35.2% 100.0%
Chi-Square Tests
Value Df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
4 .404

N of Valid Cases 71
When looking into the Table 3 we can see that χ (1) = 4.013, p = .404 >.05. This also tells us that
there is no statistically
significant association between age and problems faced; that is, working women of all age have
same and equal problems
thus rejecting our null hypothesis. When we see the cross tabulation we found working women of all
the ages are having
few problems.
E. Relationship between Marital Status and Problems Related to Family and Profession
A married working face more problems related to family and work profession. Long-term exposure
of women to
excessive work hours and high levels of work-to-family interference elevates the risk of mental and
physical health
problems between working women. Moreover, it is also understand that women faced several
challenges to balances
work and family and the same is depicted in the below table.
Chi-Square Tests
2 .030
N of Valid Cases 71
Table: 4 Study of Relationship Between Marital Status and Problems Related to Family and
Profession
Problems Related to family and Professional Total
Cat’t say No Yes
Marital
Status Married
Count 1 27 20 48

% within Problems Related to
family and Professional
20.0% 65.9% 80.0% 67.6%
% of Total 1.4% 38.0% 28.2% 67.6%
Single
Count 4 14 5 23
80.0% 34.1% 20.0% 32.4%
% of Total 5.6% 19.7% 7.0% 32.4%
Total
Count 5 41 25 71
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
% of Total 7.0% 57.7% 35.2% 100.0%
When looking into the Table 4 we can see that χ (1) = 6.985, p = .030 <.05. This tells us that there is
statistically
significant association between marital status and problems related to family and profession; that is,
problems related to
family and profession depends on the marital status thus accepting our null hypothesis. From cross
tabulation table we
found that most of the married women said that there are no such problems but a similar number of
women also accepted
that yes there are such problems. In case of single working women the table shows that they are not
having such
problems as compared to married women.
F. Relationship between Sector and Problems Related to family and Professional
Problems related to family and work life also depends on the banking sector. When we look at the
women working in the
government sector they used to have fewer hours of workings and the work load is also not that
much as compared to
private sector. Private sector sometimes require late working hour and also work pressure is more
so women in private
sector feel problems in managing proper work and family life balances. This is described in the below
table.
Chi-Square Tests
2 .093
N of Valid Cases 71
When looking into the Table 5 we can see that χ (1) = 4.740, p = .093 >.05. This tells us that there is
no statistically
significant association between banking sector and problems related to family and profession; that
is, in both the sectors
problems related to family and professions are of same level and does not depend on the type of
banking sector thus
rejecting our null hypothesis and from cross tabulation table we found that the working women of
both type of banks said
that there are not much problems related to family and profession.
Table: 5 Study of Relationship Between Sector and Problems Related to family and Professional
Problems Related to family and
Professional
Total
Can't say No Yes
Sector
Government
Count 0 21 11 32
% within Sector 0.0% 65.6% 34.4% 100.0%
% within Problems Related
to family and Professional
0.0% 51.2% 44.0% 45.1%
% of Total 0.0% 29.6% 15.5% 45.1%
Private
Count 5 20 14 39
% within Sector 12.8% 51.3% 35.9% 100.0%
100.0% 48.8% 56.0% 54.9%
% of Total 7.0% 28.2% 19.7% 54.9%
Total
Count 5 41 25 71
% within Sector 7.0% 57.7% 35.2% 100.0%
100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
% of Total 7.0% 57.7% 35.2% 100.0%
G. Most Important Problem

So after looking at the various associations between the problems and their impact on working
women under various
factors we can now find which problems impacts working women more in terms of workplace and
work family life
balancing. When asked from the working women about the problems they are facing they specified
different type of
problems which is given in the below table. From here we can say which problem impacts working
women more and
which create a barrier in giving a good performance at work and living a healthy work and family life
equally.
Table: 6 Most Important Problem
Frequency Percent Valid
Percent
Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Depression 24 33.8 33.8 33.8
Gender
Discrimination
1 1.4 1.4 35.2
Mental Pressure 30 42.3 42.3 77.5
Others 16 22.5 22.5 100.0
Total 71 100.0 100.0
The above graph is showing that working women in the banks are facing two main problems i.e.
mental pressure and
depression as they need to manage work of both office and home. So due to more work pressure
they are facing the
problem of mental pressure and depression.
VII. CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATION
This research revolves around the topic “Problem faced by working women in Banking Sector”. After
analyzing the data
carefully, the following conclusions are drawn. Majority of the respondents lies between the age-
group of 26 –40years
and belong to the private banking sector. Mostly are graduate having less than 3 years of
professional experience. From
the data analysis it is observed that there is more married female staff in comparison of unmarried
female staff and
majority of the married female staff faced more problems than unmarried like:- time management,
work overload, work
schedule control, work hours etc. It is also observed that there is a cooperative attitude of bosses
towards their female
staff that will decrease the mental pressure and depression. As well as family of working women
should also show
cooperative attitude so that she can also find time for herself and can enjoy both his family life and
work life. The second
problem that we found is that number of working women was more in private sector banks as
compared to government
sector bank so Government should encourage the women by giving them more opportunity to work
in government banks.

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ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS: Women Leadership, entrepreneurship, banking industry

women entrepreneurs continues to live and strive in a complex situation of socio-cultural,

International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management

Vol.2, No. 3, March (2013)

Online available at www.indianresearchjournals.com

gender discrimination by introducing various initiatives like emphasis on women‟s education,

constitution. Then where does this difference lies?

career and professional life

empowered, society with stability is assured. Empowerment of women is essential as their

ultimately a good nation."

WOMEN’S CAREER DEVELOPMENT HINDRANCE IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY

(German Institute for Research in Economics 2007.

other industries in the world.

the women in the industry are

Vol.2, No. 3, March (2013)

Online available at www.indianresearchjournals.com

the lack of access towards the powerful networks and connections

the issue about family

SCENARIO IN INDIAN BANKING INDUSTRY

would have been a lot different."

though the economic slowdown unscathed

three decades the gender equilibrium became 'fairly' poised.

arm for insurance, mutual fund business.

International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management

Vol.2, No. 3, March (2013)

Online available at www.indianresearchjournals.com

Naina Lal Kidwai

first woman to head the operations of a foreign bank in India.

as a catalyst in facilitating its women to hold senior positions.

on board, Usha Thorat and Shyamala Gopinath.

the women CEOs.

WHAT MAKES WOMEN SO SUCCESSFUL IN THE INDIAN BANKING INDUSTRY?

human-oriented, even in the face of some incredible advancement in technology. As a

'Soft' skills that include communicating, networking, empowering, delegating, and

counseling among others.

adjusting attitude flows into the workplace as well."

focus on her career.

International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management

Vol.2, No. 3, March (2013)

Online available at www.indianresearchjournals.com

becoming risk-takers as men and focusing on long-term interests of the company. In

In today‟s world, leadership is becoming more results-oriented than process-driven.

patience, commitment, understanding others‟ concerns and so on are in-built in women,

which are very helpful in building strong business relationships.

Women tend to be better than men at empowering staff.

Women encourage openness and are more accessible.

Women identify problems more quickly and more accurately.

with an "I'll show you" attitude.

Women leaders demonstrate an inclusive, team-building leadership style of problem

solving and decision making.

CHALLENGES OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEUR’S

leaders since the corporate world is a „man‟s industry‟.

Leadership remains as a domain dominated by men as it is directly associated with

authoritarianism to which the women lacks.

comparison of men leaders.

thus women leaders are more hindered by the entitlement effect.

Women faces more challenges before becoming leaders compared to that of

the challenges experienced by men.

International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management

Vol.2, No. 3, March (2013)

Online available at www.indianresearchjournals.com

highlight their abilities to multi-task or provide emotional intelligence or empathy.

Women can deliver best in an “environment of respect.” -- With best employer