Ms Saritha Padmanapan

Saritha is a doctoral scholar pursuing Ph.D. in Corporate and Commercial Law at Alliance University, Bengaluru. Her research explores board composition, Women representation, and the enforcement of corporate governance norms in Indian listed companies. Her research analyses the impact of the Companies act, 2013 and SEBI regulations on corporate governance practices and the mandatory provisions for women directors.

She holds a master's degree in Corporate and Commercial law and her work intersects corporate governance, regulatory frameworks, Key committee reports on corporate governance, global gender gap and women on boards reports and existing academic literature.

She has presented her work at academic conferences, and her research involves a mixed methodology including primary qualitative and secondary quantitative research. The qualitative research constitutes interviews with board members, policymakers, corporate law experts, corporate leaders, and academicians to uncover socio-cultural, economic and institutional barriers to women access to boards and leadership positions in India.

Global best practices for women board representation will be analyzed. Beyond academia, Saritha is committed to bridging research and policy, aiming to contribute to more inclusive and accountable governance practices.