McKinsey launches Next Generation Women Leaders
McKinsey & Company has launched the ‘Next Generation Women Leaders Award’, a scholarship programme for talented women. McKinsey invites female students and experienced professionals from Europe, the Middle East and Africa wishing to apply for the scholarship - worth €2,000 - to sign up. The female talents that win the scholarship will, in addition to the financial prize, receive coaching from McKinsey consultants and be granted access to select events held by the world's leading strategy consulting firm.
Encouraging diversity within business, and smashing the glass ceiling to allow more women to reach the top of business has, in recent years, become a management agenda issue for many companies. And not without reason; recent research shows that in 2015 "only" 2% of the top 100 CEOs worldwide are women. In the UK, women in executive director positions currently stands at 9.1%, even while board level inclusion has increased significantly to 26%. Further research shows that a lack of diversity at the top of the world’s biggest companies is costing $655 billion in lost revenues.
To get more women into the top of business, organisations across the board have been initiating diversity programmes, including several consulting firms. Capgemini for instance recently launched its TechFuture’s programme to encourage more women into tech jobs, with some thereby destined for top positions, while Accenture too came out in support of women in the tech field through its support of the Girl Geeks Campus programme. Alpha FMC, a financial consultancy, recently launched a number of programmes aimed at diversity; while FTI Consulting earlier this year too launched FTI WIN, a programme aimed at bridging the diversity gap within the organisation’s boundaries.
Networking events and other programmes, which focus specifically on the female audience, have too been gaining popularity in recent years. London-based Elixirr for example earlier this month committed its support to Woman in Retail Network, while a range of firms have unveiled initiatives designed to return women to work, including A.T. Kearney’s Encore programme, PwC’s ‘Back to Work’ programme and Accenture’s shared parental leave offering.
McKinsey & Company, with over 18,000 employees the globe’s largest strategy & operations consulting firm, also has a number of initiatives in place to improve the outcome of women seeking their way to the top of business. The firm regularly publishes papers and research into diversity issues – such as the recently featured gender parity study – and for years highlights the importance of women in top positions through its "Women Matter" series and "Centred Leadership Project”.
Next Generation Women Leaders Award
To further encourage young female talent to strive for the top, McKinsey & Company recently launched a new scholarship programme: the 'Next Generation Women Leaders Award’. Talented women from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa – both students and experienced professionals* – can apply for the programme. McKinsey is especially interested in reaching women who are “actively seeking to strengthen their own potential", capable of "problem solving and creative thinking” and who “excel at working with others”. In short, women who “want to use their talents to make a positive change in their lives and those of others”.
The students and professionals which are ultimately awarded a scholarship win a prize of € 2,000, which can be used for following a training, volunteering, or an independent research project. They also receive mentoring by McKinsey partners and consultants and are given select access to events held by the firm across the EMEA region.
Female talents seeking to win the ‘McKinsey Female talents in the scholarship’ can register online up until November 30.
* Any woman, regardless of study or professional direction, is entitled to apply for the scholarship.
