Delivering the Deal
Female retention in Private Equity
August 31, 2023 | Episode 17 | 19:11
The “Delivering the Deal” spotlight series is where Mercer’s leading experts discuss the most pressing issues facing business leaders and deal professionals in M&A today.
In this episode, we discuss the challenges facing the private equity industry regarding attracting and retaining female talent and some key levers to pull to progress in this area. Lucy Brown, Senior DEI consultant at Mercer, and Jaclyn Andrasek, Global Fund Development Leader at Marsh, wrote an article addressing these issues: Female retention. The obstacles to gender diversity in private equity firms. Tune in to uncover their top learnings.
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Build allies
"Firms need to prioritise solving the challenge of female retention in private equity.We need everyone to understand the challenges and the role they play.." -
Reexamine company culture
"A culture around the rest of the fund where people feel disincentivized to actually use what they are entitled to and what may have attracted them [to the fund] in the first place." -
Become a role model
"Parental leave is still a topic that is top of mind. Many of these clients look to their senior colleagues or colleagues more broadly and notice they're not taking their leave, creating a culture that says to them as an individual. You won't get ahead or miss out on an amazing project if you take leave." -
Step out, not back
"I've heard from many clients that they take a step out, and then they're forgotten, and their career takes a bit of a pause because they're not there to advocate and raise their hand for their promotion."
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