Gender asymmetries in the boardroom: consulting the consultancy industry in Portugal

Although the presence of women in top management positions has, throughout the years, become larger and more well-perceived by society, there is still a long way until gender equality is reached. The present thesis aims to analyse the current Portuguese panorama regarding the role women face in their employments, with a particular focus on the consulting activity. To do so, an assessment was accomplished, allowing to understand the difficulties women face on the basis of equal payment, education and qualification levels, and the access to high top management positions. The results show that the wage pay gap is real and, as a matter of fact, it gets greater the higher the position within the firm. Furthermore, although women are more qualified and pursue their studies further, their presence in the top boards of their companies is still a long distance from the men’s reality, who continue to be the largest composition of the leadership panels. The study shows that the presence of women in management positions in the industry under study is only approximately 15.9%, while the presence of women on supervisory boards is 25.8%.