Accenture Flies the Flag for Gender Diversity and More Females in Technology

Posted by Julia Zhu Wei

Inclusion and diversity have always been fundamental to Accenture’s culture and core values, and a powerful catalyst for success. As such, Accenture is committed to a workplace that recognizes and embraces the unique strengths of different and diverse individuals that bring about exceptional performance - women included.  

Last month, Accenture celebrated diversity, and the importance of encouraging a culture that empowers women on International Women’s Day (IWD) by hosting and live broadcasting a series of discussions around gender equality and advancing opportunities for women.

Accenture has recognized IWD since 2001, and their partnership with IWD this year attests to their long-running involvement with, and commitment to supporting and encouraging women to make the most out of a career in Technology.

More recently, Accenture has set a new goal on their mission of inclusion, diversity and equality by pledging to grow the percentage of their new women hires to 40% by 2017, a concrete effort to increase the number of women in the workforce and the amount of female role models in STEM.

Initiatives in Supporting Women

Access to support in the workplace is paramount in balancing out the gender disparity and helping women in their professional development. The following are a list of Accenture’s existing range of initiatives and programs that help empower women.

  • Women’s mentoring
  • Accenture’s Women’s Network
  • Women’s Local Community
  • Maternity Returners Program
  • Defining Success Forums
  • Employee Resource Groups

“Today, there are more resources, sponsors and supporters of women in the workplace than ever before and these challenges are no longer insurmountable,” says Jane Livesey (Managing Director of Accenture Technology in Australia & New Zealand).

Jane Livesey is just one amongst a larger cohort of women at Accenture who have encouraging stories, and inspirational life lessons to share. 

‘Women in Technology’ series - Graduate Opportunities!

Each year Accenture hosts a ‘Women in Technology’ series, travelling coast to coast around the country hosting a range of events bringing forth inspirational stories from women in the tech industry and from students and graduates.

A recent initiative from the series includes: Women in Tech Insight Day, a day featuring presentations from Software Engineers and attendees, with opportunities for attendees to apply for Accenture’s Graduate Program in Software Engineering. 

Find out more about the Women in Technology events here

Benefits of Workplace Diversity 

Thus far, Accenture has visibly benefitted from their commitment to and implementation of inclusion and diversity, one such benefit being better performance. Marge Magner, Lead Director in Accenture’s Board of Directors comments in her online piece, Performance Improves with Diversity, the importance of having different voices and thinking in an organization.

“Women, when they lead, have a tendency or inclination to be more inclusive. So leading allows for more discussion and more input and more variability of what’s going on in the discussion.”

“Women need to have a place at the table because having people who have different experiences and think differently creates a better result. I do speak with authority on that because I’ve lived it and seen it.”

To find out more about Accenture or opportunities to join their diverse workforce as an intern or graduate, click here.


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