Oliveboard study records increasing registrations among women in banking from tier II cities

Oliveboard, India's largest online test preparation platform for banking and government courses with over one million subscribers, unveiled a study report that reflects a growing trend in the number of women applicants from tier II cities opting for banking.

In urban cities, banking is already a sector dominated by women in various aspects. Chanda Kochchar - CEO, ICICI, Arundhati Bhattacharya - CMD, SBI, Shikha Sharma - CEO, Axis Bank and Naina Lal Kidwai - GM and Country Head of HSBC are just a few examples of the long list of senior women executives in this sector.

Highlights of the survey:

•60 percent of the registered users across all courses on Oliveboard are for Banking

•Of the 60 percent Banking registrants - Female registrations represent 36 percent and male 64 percent

•Women registering for banking from Tier II and III cities constitute 80 percent of the female base

•Women registering for banking from Tier I cities constitute 20 percent

•Men registering for banking from Tier I cities also constitute 20 percent

•The percentage of women registering on the platform: 2016 vs 2017 is 29 percent as opposed to 36 percent

•Women typically opt for banking exams like IBPS PO and SBI PO exams

•The age group of women registering for banking ranges between 21 and 28

According to a KPMG and Google report in May 2017, India's online education market is set to grow to USD 1.96 Billion and around 9.6 million users by 2021 from USD 247 million and around 1.6 million users in 2016. And specifically, the online test preparation platforms are slotted to be the fasted growing category within online education with a compounded CAGR of 64 percent.

"We have been observing an upward trend in the number of women registrants on our platform over the years. This is also a reflection of technology adoption by women in general from tier II markets. With 80 percent of the women subscribers in banking coming from tier II cities, this clearly signifies the growing popularity of banking as a profession in these cities," said Abhishek Patil, Founder and CEO, Oliveboard.

"I think banking and finance is the foundation of an economy and we hence find the opportunities exciting and purposeful. Women generally find banking to be a conducive career as it typically provides a lot of stability and growth opportunities. With the help of online test platforms, working women can now further their growth prospects in this sector easily," added Nimisha Agrawal, an Oliveboard subscriber.

With many women, already in top position in the industry and supported by perks such as a secured family life, attractive salary, favourable working conditions and the stability in work; this sector has become preferable over most other sectors, to women.

As per industry experts, hiring female employees is encouraged in the financial sector as they bring about a balance in the operations, as well as the work environment. Feminine traits show better results than their male counterparts in certain aspects of banking services and having women on board provides genuine value addition to decision-making.