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EY and PwC are on track to miss 2025 targets for female partner representation in the UK as the Big Four accountancy firms struggle to sufficiently increase the proportion of women in their senior ranks.
EY's UK arm is set to fall short of its target, setting the ultimate target. The company is aiming for 40 percent of female equality partnerships this year, with data from last year showing that only 28 percent of partners in the country were women.
Audit firms have increased the number of women in senior roles in recent years, and EY recently named Janet Truncale as its new global chairman and appointed Anna Anthony as the firm's new UK managing partner.
But raising the gender balance of the partnership towards parity has proven to be a slow process, something that is explained in sections such as the law. and banks.
The Big Four have all set goals in recent years to increase their proportion of female partners and, subsequently, help reduce their gender pay gaps, with women looking to answer less than a fifth of that level in the UK to the end. in the 2010s.
PwC is 3 percent points shy of the 2025 goal of 30 percent UK female participation according to its latest data. This number has increased by 1 to 2 percentage points per year since 2021, meaning it will take a big leap forward to close the gap before PwC reports its new figures later this year.
KPMG and Deloitte have already achieved their goals in the UK. The former was the first of the Big Four to publish data on gender diversity just over a decade ago, and exceeded the interim goal of 25 percent by 2022. It had 29 percent of female partnerships in the UK by 2023.
And Deloitte reported last year that 30 percent of its partners were women, ahead of a 2025 deadline to hit that number.
Yet both firms are on track to miss global partnership targets – targets that PwC and EY lack.
The Big Four argued that increasing the number of female partners takes time, because of the need to build a pipeline of candidates with enough experience to be promoted.
Karl Edge, chief people officer at KPMG UK, said the company was “committed to creating an inclusive environment”, adding: “While progress may be variable, we are focused on achieving better representation at all levels of our firm, challenging ourselves to go further.” faster and faster.”
KPMG International said it will “continue to build on the momentum” of gender equality, which remains a “strategic focus”.
Jackie Henry, managing partner of people and purpose at Deloitte UK, said the company was “proud” to have met its 2025 goals a year early. “But . . . we will continue to be accountable and strive for more gender equality. “
EY and PwC declined to comment.