Indian Women in Leadership: Engaging with the Terrain of Constraints Rooted in Religion and Traditions

In today’s India, when we look at leadership roles, it is quite natural to ask why there are so few women in top decision-making positions. Searching for answers led us to look deeply into religious and traditional aspects of India. In this chapter, we explore constituents of various religious practices prevailing in India in connection with women and their leadership roles. From Vedic culture to the entry of new religions in the form of Christianity and Islam, we encapsulated various traditional dimensions of religions that are relevant for women’s aspirations to become leaders. In this chapter, we explored in detail dominant Indian religions, such as Hinduism and Islam. Other less common religions, as practiced in India, are briefly reviewed.