Why are women underrepresented in senior positions in the strategic management consulting sector? A qualitative exploration of the main barriers and enablers

Details

Supervisors

Jammaers, Eline

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

The master thesis purpose was to understand why women are underrepresented at the senior level in the SMCS. To have a broad view, I researched the underlying barriers and enablers of this managerial issue. In the first step, the literature review permitted to shed light on the nature of the SMCS environment and its specificities: elite identity, “up or out” culture, little work-life balance, full commitment, and the strategic role as an advisor of the most powerful multinationals andgovernments. The academical paper evoke the barriers and facilitators in the workplace. Nevertheless, there is a literature gap regarding the barriers and enablers tailored to the very particular SCMCS environment. In the second step, to remediate the literature gap, I undertook the empirical analysis through 31 semi-directed qualitative interviews. The respondents' panel is diversified in terms of gender, company, and seniority. Regarding the main results, the literature review insights have sometimes been corroborated or complemented during interviews. However, there are relevant point of impingement and discussions between the literature and empirical parts. Regarding the main results, on the barriers side, first, I explained the issues related to the denying and hiding of the gender disparity. Then, I described the stereotypes and biases affecting women: disregarded in meetings, expertise questioned, women’s lack of confidence, and the over-carrying attitude not suitable for the SMCS environment. Moreover, I throw the light on the family-unfriendly culture of presenteeism, the lack of support through role models and mentors with children, part-time contracts, and middle-management. Additionally, interviews revealed women’s isolation and therefore disadvantages in networking. Moreover, it appeared that women have a lower quality of feedback as well as a performance review based on perception rather than objective criteria due to the time constraints. Finally, all these barriers result in an overachievers and imposter syndrome women's self-perception. Concerning the main findings, on the enablers side, I elaborated on concrete facilitators for the integration and retention of women pointed out by interviewees. There are 2 subsections: the enablers related to the recruitment of women and the enablers concerning the retention and promotion of females in the SMCS.