Coaching Page

Female coach here.

Very  good question indeed. And a delicate topic. My view:

1. Gender Imbalance in Consulting: fewer women enter consulting, despite companies' efforts to increase gender diversity, the initial pool of female applicants remains smaller. So, it is likely there are fewer women coaches.
  
2. Attrition Rates: The share of females in consulting firms often decreases with career progression, especially for the more senior roles. Again, also despite the companies' efforts to retain them. So, the female coaches available are likely of less seniority and probably “less desirable” coaches vs. the ones you have on the first page.

3. Stereotypes and Perceptions: The stereotype about how a successful consultant looks like (e.g., a white man in a suit), and therefore how a great coach looks, could mean male coaches are more in demand. 

4. Lack of Representation and Role Models: the chicken and the egg. Because there is a lack of female coaches, female consultants don't think about becoming coaches. 

5. Networking and contacts: often men have more established networks, which can help them with their brand and setting an initial client base.

6. Imposter Syndrome: females who are not in their comfort zone tend to feel inadequate and are reminded that they have impostor syndrome, while men outside their comfort zone are encouraged to embrace it as some form of leadership and personal development. It is likely females don't feel accomplished / adequate enough to become coaches.

All these are absolutely my subjective hypothesis.

Hi,

As Anna mentioned, I think the bigger reason is that in general there is still a gender imbalance in the industry although consulting has been pushing for this harder and seems to have made more progress (based on anecdotal experience and networks) than say finance. Take enough cuts of the funnel and that gap becomes more evident in a context like case interview coaching platforms. 

I would challenge your statement, it is a blanket statement and maybe you did not intend to make the point that way, but it is important to capture the nuance that there are female coaches on Preplounge, as already seen from the responses here. They may not be listed in the first page or “top ranked” (based on preplounge's metrics), but that in no way means that they are not good coaches. 

If you (or anyone) is specifically looking for a female coach, go past the first page and you'll start seeing female coaches, reach out to them to find out the best one for you. 

Good (consulting) question! 

I was also curious, so following if anyone has any good hypothesis 👀

 

I'll let the female coaches answer this one but if you're interested in the topic of diversity on recruiting as a whole, you might also find this article helpful:

Expert Guide: How Are Diversity Initiatives Affecting Recruitment?

Hey! 

I think this is an interest & self confidence issue! :) Made the experience coaching many girls who were not that confident applying for MBB than men :) 

BR

Alessa

I don't really have an answer for that. I've seen female coaches active on this website, and to be honest it is the first time that I find no woman on the 1st page, although some unbalance was always there.

Hi there,

I would be happy to share my thoughts on your question:

• First of all, there are certainly female coaches on PrepLounge, but since the standard ranking is based on recommendation, there just don't seem to be any female coaches (yet) who have a high enough score to be on the first page.
• Moreover - and I saw that Valentine from PrepLounge already replied - you could also just get in touch with PrepLounge if you have a specific combination of qualities in mind for your coach.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

Great question and we would like to see more gender balance in our coaching community as well.  

Anna already pointed out the main reasons why we are not there yet, but I can only encourage you to make a personal difference, land your job in consulting and then come back as a coach and serve as a role model for others. 

We can also recommend some female coaches if needed, but I think the ones who have answered here are already great to get in touch with. 

Wishing you much success for your preparation and upcoming interviews! 💙💚