Interviews with 79 Women Shed Light on Diversity
LONDON, 26 MAR 2008 – Female leaders at PricewaterhouseCoopers identified "stepping stone" opportunities, major developmental milestones in their careers, as the most common critical element in helping them advance in a male-dominated workplace, according to an internal PwC study titled “The Leaking Pipeline: Where are our Female Leaders?” The title refers to the falloff between the percentage of women entering PricewaterhouseCoopers global workforce and those who reach the Partnership level.
The research, conducted by PwC’s Gender Advisory Council, gathered perspectives from 79 female leaders within PwC's global network on issues pertaining to women in leadership roles. It sheds light on the various obstacles faced by women as they rise within the ranks of professional services firms. The report provides recommendations on how to build corporate gender diversity in order to increase the bottom line while still promoting the advancement of women in the workplace.
“Any organisation, including ours, is at its strongest when it leverages its people to their fullest potential – that’s why nurturing female talent is so important,” said PricewaterhouseCoopers Global CEO Samuel A. DiPiazza. “We need to ask ourselves, as business leaders, are we really doing all we can to achieve excellence from our diversity? Businesses should be at the point where all of their employees believe there are no limitations to achieving their full potential based on gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.”
The report identifies several actions businesses can take to fully engage and retain female talent. At PwC, "stepping stones" was the most commonly cited. In most cases, among the 79 women interviewed, her career was advanced by a mentor who took a personal ongoing interest in her advancement, and provided her with the right developmental opportunities at the right time.
Other key experiences identified by the PwC women as stepping stones were working with prestigious clients early in their careers , moving to a different office within a given country or to another PwC firm and taking a role in Human Capital or Training management.
Among other issues cited by interviewees with regular frequency as making a difference were:
- Acceptance of gender as a business issue.
- Building a flexible workplace.
- The importance of networks.
- The role of structured leadership training and executive coaching.
- Transparency and succession planning processes.
Many respondents noted the importance of building the cultural awareness of subconscious gender stereotypes and responding positively to situations when management took a “risk” by appointing females to leadership roles.
“Creating opportunities for women to advance is a vital component of PwC’s female retention and talent management practices,” explained Moira Elms, chair of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Gender Advisory Council. “The publication of this report should serve as a reminder to continue our commitment to ensuring that women have the opportunity to build a rewarding career with our organisation and beyond.”
By challenging traditional perceptions and going beyond the
status quo, there are several benefits that a company can gain from promoting diversity in the workplace, such as increasing competitive advantage, achieving higher levels of creativity and innovation, and sustaining effective talent.
PwC’s female leaders indicated that it is necessary to cultivate an entire corporate culture surrounding women in the workplace, which features a flexible working environment, increased focus on feedback and aligning business strategies with employees’ personal values. Creating a supportive environment, in which women share experiences and practise skills either through group or individual mentoring, coaching or networking is also a vital component of gender diversity.
The research provides just one of many examples of initiatives that have been successfully achieved at PwC in terms of female retention and leadership development. For example, PwC created the Gender Advisory Council, an action and results-oriented advisory group of PwC Partners from ten countries, to advise the Firm’s global leadership on critical issues facing the organisation regarding gender diversity. The Council is very active in developing important initiatives and sharing best practices. For more, visit
www.pwc.com/women
Notes to Editor:
- “The Leaking Pipeline: Where are our Female Leaders” is based on interviews with 79 women in seven countries including Australia, Canada, France, Ireland, South Africa, the US and the UK. To download a copy of the report, visit www.pwc.com/women.
- Women represent half of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ global workforce at the recruitment level, but only 13 percent of the Partnership level. The PricewaterhouseCoopers network has made gender diversity a primary goal.
- PricewaterhouseCoopers created its Gender Advisory Council (GAC) to lead the effort in helping to advance women within the global firm.
- PricewaterhouseCoopers continues to invest in mentoring schemes, networking programs, flexible working models and innovative developments such as reverse mentoring, bias awareness training and coaching schemes, throughout the global network. See www.pwc.com/women for more information.
- PricewaterhouseCoopers is a sponsor and supporter of the annual Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society and works closely with other organizations such as Catalyst and GlobeWomen to learn how to best support, develop and retain talent.
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 146,000 people in 150 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice.
“PricewaterhouseCoopers” refers to the network of member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited, each of which is a separate and independent legal entity.
