Future of HR in IT: Will Female Dominance Continue to Grow?

Dear Friends and Managers,

Nowadays, the percentage of female HR professionals in the IT and ITES industries is 80%, surpassing male HR professionals. What will be the future percentage for this position? I am eager to understand this as I am considering pursuing an MBA in HR. Do you think this trend will continue to improve in the future?

Please share your insights and suggestions.

Thank you,
Balaji

Hi Balaji,

First of all, I absolutely disagree with RSK that because of looks, female HR's are appointed. Why don't males have any looks or what?

I guess HR people need lots of patience, and males don't have that as compared to women. HR is a thankless job. Even if you do all the possible things for employees to solve their problems, still, they think that HR doesn't do anything. From my side, I just want to give you advice that if you are interested in HR, then just go ahead. If you are capable enough, you will get a good job. One more thing, please go for a good institute. Before taking admission, do proper research about teaching quality, placements, etc., because too many colleges are coming up these days saying "we provide 100% placements."

All the Best and be positive

[LEFT]:-D:-D And some people give this as an excuse if they are frustrated about interviews ....

[RIGHT]

While I agree with Anshu, I would also like to mention that a few jobs have requisites that they prefer male only or female only. However, the scenario is changing. It was a concept of the past (or a perceived thought?) that HR is only for female members.

Please note that during MBA or any other HR-related courses, you can see a lot of girls taking up HR as an elective or subject, and very rarely do you get to see a mass of men (compared to marketing). The reason is they prefer money - strong marketing skills earn you a good package. Since a man is the main earning person in a family, he obviously prefers the one that pays well for his effort. But I am sure you will agree that the scenario is changing now - women are also taking up marketing assignments.

In the same way, now even men are starting to like the concept of HR, so you can see a change starting from the courses people are choosing to take.

It's the preference that takes you to what you want to be. Had I preferred finance over HR and done really well with a lot of passion and the need to excel in the finance field - I would have been elsewhere at this time, probably on a finance forum at this hour of the night.

And let's not forget that certain positions require female candidates, whereas certain HR roles require male members.

Have you seen a "Female" security guard? I have not yet - but my boss was telling me that in one company he visited in Hyderabad (I guess it's Hyderabad) - there was a female security guard who was also the receptionist. She was in a saree - and when the need arose to stand outside, she used to wear a black coat over the saree. They were trained personnel from Nepal. Brilliant idea though.. must say.

Well, whether there are more females or males, how will it affect your decision. If you like a line, you should go for it.

Hi Balaji,

I am not sure how you have derived this assumption of having noticed very few men as HR professionals. I myself work for an ITES company in which most of our top HR officials are men, and they have been extremely successful in their profession so far!

The thought that HR professionals, whether men or women, do not have a bright future or earn good packages is a very primitive thought. We have already progressed into an era where the HR function has a very strategic role to play in the business.

When it comes to choosing HR as your profession, it all boils down to your interest levels in the subject. You must decide for yourself what aspect of this profession appeals to you and why. HR is definitely a profession for people who have a wide spectrum of thought processes, patience, and commitment.

The HR function these days is very vast, and you have different portfolios that you can play. You can create your own expertise in areas like benefits administration, Statutory Compliances, HR Operations specialist, etc.

Hope my reply is of some use to you.

Warm Regards,

Aparna

Dear,

You are right, but female HR can work in the ITES and Hospitality sectors because of their glamour field. However, in the factory sector, you will find male HR professionals because they have to handle a larger number of not highly qualified male workers, unions, etc.

Thanks,
Punit

Sir,

Females are typically soft-spoken, and they know how to maintain human relations with their employees and colleagues. They are perfect for HR.

Hi Balaji,

Of course, in the IT industry, we can see more female HR professionals, but in non-IT industries, only male HR professionals are dominating. In non-IT industries, females may not be able to handle the entire role. Even in the IT industry, top positions in HR are predominantly held by males, although there are females as well, but in lesser numbers.

Jeeva

I do agree with Ash. In Gurgaon, there are many companies that have female security guards, but that is to check females only. Anshu rightly said that females have more patience compared to males. Actually, the type of business demands male or female as HR.

Regards,

i thing it is not so. considering all the parameters we can say that percentage of female HR is 80% as most of the recruiters are females. But fact is Recruiters are not HR's they are recruiters, these two are different fields.

Regarding Core HR field, this ratio is evenly balanced (1:1). The tough HR tasks or the tasks which require traveling or outdoor duties such as Campus recruitment/ Legal compliance/ onsite HR (for construction industry)/ Grievance handling or IR (specially in manufacturing industry) are mostly taken care by male HR.

The other functions like Training, Facilities, PA, lateral recruitments, Pay roll, Co ordination HR etc are dominantly taken care of by female HR's.

Thus if we consider overall situation then it can be concluded that no species dominant in HR field.

As far as your subject selection is concern it should be totally dependent on your interest and not the market trends or these false 80-20 % statistics.

I don't give suggestions but tell the fact and the fact is -

Out of 60 students, I was only boy in my college to do HR (rest of my classmates were Females) and I got job before all of them, that to in "software company"

Just remember-

"No matter how much crowed is there at bottom, there is always Space at top"

Dear All,

Though I wanted to negate/validate every reply for Balaji's query, I am constrained to summarize my observations. After having spent a little time of twenty years in HR, these are my sincere feelings.

a) For the HR department, recruitments are based on industry requirements rather than glamour looks or unions. It is also baseless to mention that factories have only less educated workmen and unions that can be managed only by males.

b) Industries that involve fine finger dexterity like mass/wave soldering (read PCB manufacturing and electronics assembly), garments would definitely have more lady operators, thus requiring more ladies in HR naturally.

b) However, there are enough senior ladies in HR who have handled unions and much more educated knowledge workers in organizations like L&T, Cummins India, Kirloskar, and Birla Groups. There are lady HR professionals who are still handling core IR assignments in Pharmaceutical and engineering industries.

c) It is also incorrect to say that only women have the patience required for HR. More than patience, HR requires a lot of common sense. Hence, anybody with common sense and the ability to use it is best suited for HR.

d) An unending passion for human beings, a lot of presence of mind, standing above your ego, and relentlessly following up on change are what is required in HR.

e) It does not make sense to say that HR is a thankless job. There are hundreds of HR professionals who have become cult figures among unions and organizations and who would love to be in the HR profession forever.

Kind regards,

Dayanand L Guddin Sr. Head - Human Resources Bobst India

If you are interested in HR, then go for it! Jobs today are not based on whether it's a man's or a woman's job; it's based on how well you fit. I have never seen it defined anywhere that HR is for women only. In fact, most HR leaders are both men and women. So, make your choice!

Regards,
Kenneth Lewis

A position in the service sector or in manufacturing totally depends on one's individual capability. Managers are supposed to handle deviations, and anyone who is competent to do so better than others wins the race. At least in this century, capability does not owe to gender. Being soft-spoken and gentle has nothing to do with gender; your personality depends more on your experiences and conditioning. Any position demands a certain type of individual, and everyone competes for that. So forget about gender ratio and concentrate on competition, which is '1:MANY,' no matter which side of the gender line one is.

Hi Punit,

Your statement is wrong.

In the manufacturing sector, workers feel they are being cheated by management (not only male workers but also female workers), so they fight with management representatives (HR people). In this sector, the management representative must have problem-solving skills, not glamour, etc. Therefore, the management representative may be male or female; they must understand the workers' mindset, or else they won't be able to handle and resolve issues.

Please stop the gender fight. :icon1:

Regards,

N. Arumugam.

HR profile needs to have thrive and dynamism. These qualities do not differ with male or female. So it's a wrong notion to say 80-20 male-female in the HR field. It's merely a coincidence in IT/ITES fields to notice the same.

I would really appreciate your interest in building a career in HR. There is always growth in the HR profession.

In the current scenario, I think there is no gender bias for any particular job; it's all based on the talent and capability you have to handle the profile. So, keep upgrading yourself with knowledge and skills in various HR techniques. All the best! 🌟

As far as choosing your career is concerned, please don't worry about whether, as a male, you can be successful in HR. It all depends on the traits you possess, not on gender. If you are someone who thinks outside the box, you will surely be successful in HR.

HR refers to Human Resources; therefore, they will deal with humans. I think women are more sensitive to human issues than men. However, it's not that men are not capable of becoming HR; it's just that women are sometimes more suited to the job.

Please let me know if you need further assistance.

With all due respect to females, I agree with the sentiment that in HR posts, mostly females are preferred, and that's quite annoying.

Hi Balaji,

Human Resource Management is a very vast field, and people belonging to both genders may equally fit into the HR profile, provided they have the requisite skills and attitude. So, don't let your decision of going for an MBA in HRM or any other stream be colored by such misconceptions; rather, analyze your aptitude for a specific field. I do agree that for recruitments, especially in consulting firms, the fairer sex may get preference, but this is a combination of HR and tele-marketing profiles, and many non-MBAs (both genders) are employed here. On the other hand, I have also seen many job openings where some companies mention "only male candidates/male candidates preferred," especially in IR roles, but that does not mean that females can't handle such matters or are not doing that elsewhere! Moreover, post-completion of your MBA, why limit yourself to the IT-ITES sector and worry about your views on the number of male/female human resource professionals there? HR is not a function that is carried out in these sectors alone; it has wide applications across many sectors.

Hope that gives you some idea about the scope of HRM! However, besides this issue, there are other important factors that you need to consider before zeroing down on the selection of an MBA stream. For example, the number of job opportunities generated is mostly in the marketing field, and the strength of marketing, IT, and finance employees in companies is generally much higher than that of HR. So, fresh MBAs in HR may find it a bit difficult to bag desired HR profiles, whether they are males or females. Thus, check out the quality of education and placement record of the institute thoroughly before taking admission in an MBA and keep working on your skills; the rest will fall into place for sure.

Good luck!

Friends, it's time to move forward in life rather than being stuck in our professional lives with these discriminating thoughts.

Just a query - Is doing a Masters in HR from a UK university better than attending a second-tier B-school in India? What would you advise?

Regards, MS

Hi there,

Don't worry about the percentage of female HR or male HR. If you have the willpower to become an HR person, then continue. All the other things you mentioned are just perceptions. If you can manage and lead a group, then I'm sure you can do it.

Winners do things differently, so you must break that 80%-20% record for women and men. :)

I hope this helps!

Basically, the HRM profession is about the effectiveness of competency and efficiency measures for organizations. However, some overly enthusiastic individuals, or I would say those with a fancy mindset such as CEOs and MDs, take this profession to a different level by aiming to have more females in HR for their entertainment value. Inadvertently, they promote gender discrimination against male counterparts because male HR professionals are perceived as being adamant and stubborn in adhering to HR principles and focusing on real HR practices rather than engaging in fancy activities.

Good HR practices and employment laws do not support gender discrimination, but unfortunately, some individuals have a different perspective on this matter.

Partho

Hello Everyone,

It's very true that in HR departments, companies still prefer female employees. However, if I take our organization as an example, our HR director is male, and even in my last company, our VP of HR was male as well. We should remember that it's not about HR or marketing but about skills.