With member firms across the MCA hosting events for International Women’s Day, last week was not only insightful, but personally inspirational to Sacha Martin an Analyst from Deloitte.
Sacha writes
“Seeing my firm leading with action to bring to life the narrative of #inspireinclusion in consulting, even for new analysts. In a week where I’m personally celebrating my six-month anniversary of joining the industry as a graduate, what better way to live this, than the opportunity to chair my first panel discussion with an audience of 150 people.
Reflecting the wider diversity that makes up our team of female consultants across the London office, our panel not only ranged in seniority, but also nationality, neurodiversity and socioeconomic background. The incredible panel left no topic off-limits, spanning imposter syndrome, anxiety and bringing your real self to work; it was a raw, fireside chat that produced the broadest outlook I’ve seen on a panel yet.
To truly include women in the workplace, every intersecting part of individuality must be accepted and recognised. Building on that, the discussion saw a celebration of the changing narrative, with the senior panellists commenting on the movement away from a white, middle-class narrative and the junior panellists affirming this representation.
The panellists’ candour seemed to be a catalyst amongst our junior consultant audience, for whom an overarching theme was empowerment. My peers felt reassured in relating to our senior female leaders and feeling a sense of belonging, especially in an industry where it’s easy to feel a sense of imposter syndrome. By championing this sense of realness, we can equip our next generation of consultants with the tools to change the status quo from the ground-up, not through force, but the empowerment of bringing your whole self to work.
Going forward, we can all embody allyship through the simplest of actions – being relatable, creating an environment that can surely become the norm if we collectively be ourselves, day by day.”