India, Sept. 21 -- One woman said flexibility. Another wanted the ability to address issues like work-life balance "without being stereotyped as dramatic and problematic".

A third said she wanted high quality jobs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities so that women can work closer to home. There were suggestions for mandatory quotas to recruit women returning to work after maternity break and policies that take into account women's health issues, including menstruation and menopause.

The central question that the survey of 1,400 women was this: What does it take to keep women in the workforce? Intended as a listening exercise, it was part of a three-day conference organised by Breakthrough, a non-profit that seeks to transform gender and social n...