In December 2008, EY ran its first female-specific leadership programme in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA).

A lot has been written about the positives and negatives of running female-only leadership programmes. Some of the pushback against such programmes suggests that

• It stigmatises women.
• It fails to engage the men on the challenges women face.
• It is unnecessary.
• It’s counterproductive.
• Women don’t want to be singled out.

But EY, in believes that the benefits far outweigh these concerns and now offers two additional programmes for its female employees from manager through to executive director.

These have had breadth of impact and a recent online survey of those who participated in the programmes revealed that they had been

• Re-energised.
• Encouraged to think differently about what they want from a career and how they will achieve it.
• Helped to develop strategies that will improve their navigation of the organisations.

Read the full report and others on diversity, leadership and related topics in our Knowledge Bank.