On May 4, the Faculty of Business Administration (FBA) hosted speakers from the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company as part of the firm’s “Women Matter” program. The event consisted of a presentation by five McKinsey representatives on “Women Matter: Turkey 2016.” Three of the representatives – Alper Özyurt (MAN/’16), İsmail Oğuz Karatay (MAN/’15) and Abdulkadir Hacıalioğlu (EE/’03) – were Bilkent graduates.
For 10 years, McKinsey has been conducting research on women’s participation in the workforce worldwide in order to develop a constructive, data-based agenda on this topic with a view toward bringing more women into leadership positions in key companies in their countries’ economies.
In cooperation with TÜSİAD, McKinsey studied the Turkish context for the first time in 2016, analyzing women’s representation in total number of employees and in management positions in 102 leading companies and exploring how these companies manage gender diversity.
Among the points highlighted by the presenters was the suggestion that increasing women’s participation in the labor force and at senior management levels offers significant growth potential for the economy, and can improve corporate performance as well.
They also noted that leading companies in Turkey have room for improvement in this area; however, this represents an opportunity for such firms, which have the potential to achieve world-class status if they make gender diversity a priority and develop women leaders.
After the presentation, the representatives answered FBA students’ questions about careers at McKinsey, careers in consulting and work life in general. Students also had the opportunity to meet with them personally and discuss career opportunities at McKinsey and other consulting firms.
For the complete report, see: http://www.mckinsey.com.tr/arastirma-ve-yayinlarimiz/WomenMatter Turkey2016Report.pdf.