WALTHAM, Mass.– Trinity Life Sciences, a leader in global life sciences commercialization solutions, conducted research on Women Representation in Life Science Consulting Leadership and finds there is a lack of women in senior, decision-making roles. The white paper analyzed 64 US-based consulting firms with life science practices to establish number of leaders and gender breakdown, as well as indicators for diversity, equity and/or inclusion (DEI) and gender equity efforts.
The paper reveals that women make up only 28 percent of total leadership in life science consulting, despite evidence showing that companies that don’t have equal representation or support diversity initiatives perform financially worse compared to those that do.
The highest proportion of women leadership is in mid-level management, such as the Associate Principal and Principal levels.
To help bridge the gender equality gap in consulting leadership roles, several strategies have been identified in the white paper including:
- Analysis of hire-in and promotion timelines by gender
- Evaluating the criteria for promotions
- Commitment to company-wide training on hard and soft skills
- Examining the hiring processes and practices
“Our findings demonstrate considerable room for improvement in gender parity within the leadership of life science consulting,” said Leslie Orne, Chief Client Officer, Trinity Life Sciences. “To consistently improve, understanding internal barriers is crucial. Many of these are unintentional and invisible. For example, analysis of hire-in and promotion timelines by gender would help elucidate when and why the gender gap forms within life science consulting companies.”
