Diversity drive? EY offers senior female staff golf lessons in bid to catch up with peers
Diversity in senior positions is a problem all City leaders face, but one firm has taken the term “diversity drive” to new lengths.
Female consultants at a London division of EY have reportedly been offered golf lessons so they don’t miss out on networking around the tee.
Staff at leading professional service firms have identified exclusive sports, such as golf and skiing, as putting some at an advantage when it comes to career building, according to a report in The Times.
A female partner, recently joined from overseas, told The Times there was a risk women could be excluded from decision making because so much internal networking took place between male partners on the golf course.
Women make up just under a third of partners at British consulting firms, an increase from 21 per cent reported in 2019, according to the Management Consultancies Association (MCA).
The number of women working in consulting firms overall though has fallen, making up 42 per cent last year, compared with 49 per cent in 2019.
At EY the figures are below average. Just under a quarter of its partners are female, while 13 per cent are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Golf clubs have also been working to become more inclusive for women. A sports marketing survey found that golf became more popular amongst women during the pandemic as a quarter of female players tried it for the time time.
EY declined to comment.