International Women's Day 2017

On March 8, BCG joined the global celebration of International Women's Day (IWD), acknowledging women’s social, economic, cultural, and political achievements. The day signifies a call to action for accelerating gender parity around the world.

The theme for 2017's campaign was "Be Bold for Change," an invitation for help in forging a better working and more gender-inclusive world. Research conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts that the gender gap won't close entirely until 2186; therefore, being bold means taking groundbreaking action that drives the greatest change benefitting women.

This year, a theme-related multimedia campaign took over all BCG social media channels, resulting in a series of moving highlights and inspirational posts on BCG's Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages. Many offices also held local celebrations, organizing speaker panels and festivities to explore ways all staff can "Be Bold for Change." Hundreds of BCGers around the world used their voices to share inspiration and action to close the gender-parity gap.

Campaign Highlights

Jooyeon Song, an associate who has worked in offices from Seoul to Helsinki, won a company-wide blog-writing contest with her long-form post, "A Room of My Own," along with a ticket to attend the Women in the World Summit that BCG cosponsored in New York, from April 5–7. In total, 77 BCGers representing all cohorts shared their stories of how and why they plan to be bold. In addition to the winning essay, four more made it to the final round, including, "Why Are There So Few Female CEOs?" by Julie Barker, "Learn to Love the Label," by Stacey Beck, "The Search for Missing Women in India," by Rachel Huynh, "Recruiters, Cast Your Net Wide," by Lora Vaioleti, and "Friend or Foe: Building and Maintaining Cross-Gender Alliances," by De Angelo Williams.

Furthermore, 11 BCGers in Los Angeles, New York, London, and Singapore filmed their stories of being bold, including Rich Lesser, who shared a short statement about the critical role diversity plays in our success, and Miki Tsusaka, who posted a story on Facebook about her mentor and the first female management consultant, Sandy Moose. Her video was also shared on the Facebook Influencer page

Here’s a fun fact: the Women@BCG team celebrated IWD by taking a late-night trek to the financial district in New York to visit the new Fearless Girl statue facing down Wall Street's Charging Bull.

Building on Success

Beyond IWD, BCG is committed to female empowerment, providing an unlimited opportunity for growth. During the past three years, the firm has made significant progress on women's advocacy and in building parity internally and externally:

• Six women are occupying over one-third of BCG's global executive committee seats.
• BCG closed the gap in attrition between men and women at the project leader and principal levels.
• More than 50% of the 2016 class of summer interns at the consultant and associate levels in North America were women, suggesting continued momentum into the future.
• Five North America offices are led by women, and three women are regional PALs.
• The number of female partners has increased by 50% since January 2015and the number of female consultants has increased by more than 70% in the last four and a half years.
• Women@BCG's agenda is considered one of the firm's top priorities.

Recent Thought Leadership

The recent BCG report, Dispelling the Myths of the Gender "Ambition Gap," disputes the common belief that women are less ambitious than men and shows that ambition level is tied to individual company culture, not to gender. In corporate cultures that embrace diversity, there is no ambition gap between women and men.

Recognition

Numerous external and independent organizations have recognized BCG for the personal-growth opportunities it provides. Some highlight corporate successes and others celebrate outstanding individuals. The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) rated BCG among the Top Companies for Executive Women for creating a culture that identifies, promotes, and nurtures the careers of talented women. Other awards include being listed in Fortune's Best Workplaces for Women, Best Workplaces for Diversity, and Best Workplaces for Parents, as well as in Working Mother’s Top 100 Companies. BCG placed third on Fortune's Best Companies to Work For list.

Partnerships

To encourage employees to get more involved in women's issues in the workforce, BCG has established ongoing partnerships and sponsorships. For example, the firm has partnered with Catalyst, a leading nonprofit organization offering pioneering research on women's workplace inclusion, was well as events, webinars, and leadership courses to accelerate progress. For this year's IWD, BCG representatives attended and supported the 2017 Catalyst awards dinner.

Furthermore, ten members of the BCG New York office are mentees or are serving as mentors to high-potential women from other organizations at the 30% Club. The organization comprises board chairs and CEOs taking action to improve women’s representation at all levels, and Rich Lesser is a member committed to driving gender equality. In addition, the New York office recently held a speaking panel at its new Hudson Yards location, expressing great engagement and interest for more events to follow.