Women on the rise - also as consultants

20.02.2025

20.02.2025

20.02.2025

Barbara Liebermeister is sitting at the table with a headset and explaining.
Barbara Liebermeister is sitting at the table with a headset and explaining.
Barbara Liebermeister is sitting at the table with a headset and explaining.

Women on the Rise – Also as Consultants

February 20, 2025 – Not only the workforce of companies but also the consulting industry has become more diverse and "women-friendly" in recent decades.

When I entered companies around 30 years ago, at the beginning of my consulting career, to lead a management training or strategy meeting, I often noticed a certain astonishment among the attendees: "That’s a woman – and she’s quite young too." And not infrequently, I was the only woman in the room – apart from the possibly present office staff who were tasked with taking the minutes and ensuring the "gentlemen's" comfort.

Our Society Has Changed

This has changed. Today, it is simply normal for at least the management circles of larger companies to include women. And among the specialists who, for example, possess the necessary technical know-how to realize a project, there are typically women today – even if they are still often in the minority in these expert circles.

This reflects societal changes. For example, more women are employed today than 30 years ago. Their share of the workforce is now 46.9 percent. Additionally, more women are studying… and they are increasingly choosing fields of study and vocational training that were previously dominated by men.

The Consulting Industry Has Also Changed

These societal changes are also affecting the consulting industry: Today, there are more women in top decision-making positions within it. However, in the large consulting firms, I still often perceive a similar distribution of tasks as in many business companies: The female executives are primarily responsible for marketing, controlling, and HR – partly due to the educational preferences of women.

The Working Conditions in the Consulting Industry Have Changed

One reason why women rarely held top decision-making positions in consulting firms in the past was also: Being a consultant was until a few years ago mostly associated with extensive travel – often even multi-day trips that required overnight stays in other cities or even countries. Therefore, women with children often could or would not take such positions, or it did not align with their life goals. So, if they had the choice, they preferred to work in the public sector.

Digital Technology Promotes and Facilitates Work-Life Balance

This has massively changed with the triumph of digital information and communication technology. Today, consulting activities are associated with significantly shorter travel times than they were five years ago, during the pre-Corona era. And just as it is common in industrial companies today for employees to deliver a large part of their performance from home, this is also the case in the consulting industry. Therefore, women can now more easily reconcile their professional challenges with their private obligations – ensuring the desired work-life balance. Thus, it is not a bold thesis: In the coming years, the number of women holding top decision-making or key positions in consulting firms will continue to rise.

Women Still Often Prefer Roles as B2C Consultants and Coaches

And what about self-employed consultants? Changes will also occur among them! Currently, it is striking, for example, that today, among self-employed female consultants, a disproportionately high number are working as life coaches or career advisors. Their target clients are usually private individuals or self-payers from the region.

For this specialization or positioning, some women certainly chose to be in control of their own time and to schedule client appointments in a way that does not conflict with their other private obligations or interests.

In contrast, women are significantly less represented as self-employed B2B consultants, that is, for companies. This is likely a central reason why self-employed trainers and consultants – according to a study by the magazine ManagerSeminare in 2023 – receive approximately €250 lower daily rates than their male colleagues.

Women Should Showcase Themselves and Their Expertise More Confidently in the B2B Sector

I hope this will change in the near future, provided that more self-employed female consultants specialize in the target group of companies instead of private individuals or self-payers and clearly and confidently present themselves to this group: "Here I am, and I can offer you the following benefits based on my expertise…. And therefore, my service is worth the amount…"

This would be desirable, as in certain business situations and constellations, women are often the better "problem solvers." However, this also requires a certain attitude and a sense of "self-empowerment" on the part of the consultants. For instance, they must not hide their light under a bushel, but rather show themselves and their expertise in the market because: Those who do not confidently advocate for their expertise run the risk of being overlooked or underestimated.

My Blog Post as an Article on Consulting.de

By the way, the above blog post of mine has also appeared – in slightly modified form – as my feature article in the dossier "Diversity in Consulting" of the online portal consulting.de.


Author: Barbara Liebermeister

About the author Barbara Liebermeister

Barbara Liebermeister is the founder and director of IFIDZ – Institute for Leadership Culture in the Digital Age. As a management consultant, coach, and speaker, she combines business experience with scientific depth and has coined the term Alpha Intelligence®, a concept that captures the essential skills of modern leaders.

With many years of experience in leadership positions and as a coach for top decision-makers, she has been supporting companies of all sizes on their way to contemporary leadership for over two decades – practical, strategic, and effective. Insights from her work have contributed to several books on the topics of self-leadership, networking, and leadership in the digital world.

Barbara Liebermeister is a lecturer at RWTH Aachen, Kempten University, and others, and also serves as a mentor at universities in Hesse. She studied business administration, holds a master's degree in neuroscience, and has completed training as a business, management, and sports mental coach.

Outstanding work: For her pioneering efforts, she was nominated for the #digitalfemaleleader Award in 2017. In 2018, the analysis tool LEADT developed by her institute, which measures digital leadership maturity, was awarded the prestigious Wolfgang Heilmann Prize at Learntec.

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