Unconfortable questions... do MBB discriminate against male candidates?

Hi there,

I might get in trouble for this, but “yes”, with a nuanced reason.

They aim for diversity. There is a certain amount of diversity that they strive for. That is the “demand”.

However, the supply is heavily skewed towards males (and, in the US, towards white males). As a result, the math doesn't quite work and the bar is in a sense is higher. (But the case/interview itself isn't “harder”).

I actually see this in my pass/fail data. I have white male candidates who were 10/10 casers and great fits who did not get offers. They were perfect in multiple mock interviews that we ran. And, I've had those not in that group get offers when they were really not ready for the interview .

There is a rebalancing in society that is needed. Sometimes the benefit of the whole is to the detriment of the individual (as has happened so many times in the past in favor of white males). And, there is a strong argument to be said for the fact that those men were better casers because they had a society biased in their favor as they were growing up (better mentorship, society saying “yes you can”, etc. etc.), and that a “reverse bias” is required here.

All of this said, it shouldn't matter to you. You need to perform at your best. Get as many interviews as you can through extensive networking + optimal resume, and optimize your odds of success in those interviews by being as good as you can be.

One piece of advice that may be useful for you in this situation is it is only helpful to focus/worry about what you can control. There are many factors outside your control but what is in your control is how you are performing.

There may be factors that make getting hired difficult at a certain time (these go far beyond not fitting the right demographics and include things like recessions etc. as the entire graduating class of 2009 discovered) but in the business world firms are rational economic actors and if you are adding economic value to their firm (in this case as a highly skilled intern who they can add to projects that generate revenue) then things will work out for you in the long term.

Why are you getting bothered by this? Your job is to prepare well and give your best. Good things will happen.

Dont feed your mind with speculation & stop comparing with others. You have a plan , stick to it and execute well.

All the best.

MBB does not discriminate based on gender. The case that one interviewer will give is the same case, regardless if the interviewee is male or female. The standards or bar the interviewee needs to pass is the same as well. 

Hi there,

Complicated question! We should probably separate between the candidate funnel and the interview:

• Interview: There is nothing systematic that would favor women over men solving the same case, for example. However, the interviewer may be biased for some reason (though firms try hard for them not to be).
• Funnel: What you do see is special events for women and potential candidates e.g. for networking, interview preparation, etc. This may give them an edge in their application and interview performance. However, no difference should be made at the interview itself.

That's just my simple and personal take on a complex matter. However, hope it helps a bit! Best of luck!

Hi there,

The short answer is no consulting firms do not discriminate between candidates, although they do recognize the need for balanced gender distribution especially because the working environment clearly remains male dominant.

One of the ways to reduce the gender gap is to increase the percentage of women in the interview pool (since women are already a minority in engineering and other backgrounds targeted by consulting firms) so as an incentive they try to increase the number of applicants and positions but the interview process and the level required will remain the same. 

Sometimes a candidate, regardless of gender, just gets lucky with the interviewer and the case.   

Hello!

I can see where your concern is coming from. 

However, something important is to understand the mechanics of the interviewing: the interviewer has a case he/she repeats always. Hence, it´s given to whoever candidate she/he has in front, regardless of the gender. 

You can enter the debate on whether the bar is lower for females in order to face how skewed the demand is for those roles, but that is another conversation. The case given, for sure, is not affected by gender. 

Hope it helps!

Cheers, 

Clara

I am not able to answer the main question (do they disciminate against males), but I am able to shed some light on your secondary question - if case interview questions are easier for woman, and the answer is NO.

You seem to believe that passing the case is a matter of getting to the right answer, whereas it is about how you approach a problem. If you have a good approach, within certain boundaries, it doesn't really matter how difficult the problem is. 

Or even better: if you don't have a good approach, it doesn't matter if the problem is easy. You may even get to the right answer, but you shouldn't pass the interview. 

As such, if a company wants to discriminate in favor of a certain group, it will not be done by giving easier cases, but by lowering the bar on how well one needs to perform in any case.

Please note I am not saying this is happening. I am just saying that if it was being done, it wouldn't be that way.