Globally, 20 per cent of senior management positions are held by women, down from 24 per cent in 2009, as per the latest finding of Grant Thornton's International Business Report.
What is more, about 38 per cent of businesses worldwide have no women at the senior management level.
The situation is, however, better in the Asian continent, as women representation is comparatively higher in Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and China, at 30-45 per cent.
However, women's presence in top corporate positions is below 10 per cent in India, Japan and UAE.
"At some point in time, every women needs to strike a balance between her personal and professional life, if not make a choice between the two, and most Indian women tend to opt for family over career," Karishma Phatarphekar, a Partner at Grant Thornton India, said.
She further said, "Another reason could be that culturally, the majority of India still operates in a joint family set-up, thereby giving lesser flexibility and independence for the women to give way to their career aspirations."
Thailand (45 per cent) boasts the highest percentage of women at the senior management level across the world, followed by Georgia (40 per cent), Russia (36 per cent), Hong Kong and the Philippines (both 35 per cent).
Interestingly, G7 countries lag behind the global average, with only 16 per cent of women holding senior roles, whilst regionally, the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) scores highest with 27 per cent.
In countries like Thailand, Hong Kong, Greece, Belgium and Botswana, women have become most successful in increasing their share of senior management roles by at least 7 per cent since 2009.
Of the companies that employ women in senior managerial positions globally, 22 per cent employ them in financial positions such as Chief Financial Officer and Finance Director.
This is followed by Human Resource Director (20 per cent), Chief Marketing Officer and Sales Director (both 9 per cent).
Globally, just 8 per cent of companies with women in senior managerial positions have a female Chief Executive Officer (CEO). However, the story is different in Asian economies.
Thailand leads the way with 30 per cent of companies employing female CEOs, followed by mainland China (19 per cent), Taiwan (18 per cent) and Vietnam (16 per cent).