Is the UK consulting industry good for women? Pay gap data 2026
Consulting sells itself to graduates as one of the fairest routes into a high-paying career: structured progression, clear promotion criteria, and a meritocracy where results speak for themselves. The pay gap figures tell a more complicated story. The consulting gender pay gap is one of the wider ones in professional services, and the firms that publish the biggest numbers are often the ones with the most polished diversity pages.
So the honest answer to “is consulting good for women” is the same careful one we give for finance: it can be, and the published data tells you which firms have earned that description. This guide looks at what the consulting gender pay gap really measures in 2026, why it opens up, and the concrete checks that separate a genuinely good consulting employer from one trading on reputation. It is written for the UK and built on published figures from the Office for National Statistics and the government’s gender pay gap service.
The consulting gender pay gap in 2026
Consulting sits inside the ONS sector labelled “professional, scientific and technical activities”, which the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings consistently records with an above-average gender pay gap. The all-industries median gap for full-time employees was 6.9% in April 2025, and professional services runs well above that. The largest UK consulting and advisory firms, which all employ far more than the 250 staff that trigger mandatory reporting, routinely publish median gaps in the high teens to the twenties.
That headline is worth pausing on, because a gap that size is almost never about a firm paying women less for the same work. It is about who holds the senior, highest-paid roles. Partner and director grades in consulting carry the largest salaries and the biggest bonuses, and those grades remain heavily male at most firms.
Bonuses deserve particular attention in consulting. A meaningful share of total reward at senior grades comes through performance bonuses and profit share, and the bonus gap is typically wider than the pay gap. When you look a consulting employer up, read the bonus figures as carefully as the hourly ones, because that is often where the real distance shows.
Why the consulting gap opens up
The consulting gender pay gap is a story of progression, not identical work paid unequally. Firms often recruit close to a fifty-fifty split at graduate and analyst level, then watch the balance tilt at each promotion. Women thin out through the manager, senior manager, and partner grades, exactly the levels where pay accelerates. Average the whole firm together and the gap widens even where pay for the same grade is fair.
This is the difference between the gender pay gap and equal pay, and it matters when you read any single number. Equal pay means paying men and women the same for the same work, which is the law. The gender pay gap measures the mix of roles across a whole firm. Our guide on how to read a company’s gender pay gap figures explains how to tell the two apart, and it is worth reading before you judge any consulting employer.
The consulting model compounds the effect. Heavy travel, client sites, long and unpredictable hours, and an up-or-out culture all bite hardest during the years when many women are balancing caring responsibilities. Progression often depends on visible availability and being staffed on the marquee accounts, and both quietly favour people without competing demands at home. None of this is inevitable, and the better firms actively design around it, which is precisely why the sector average tells you so little about any individual employer.
What makes a consulting employer genuinely good for women
The sector average is the weather, not the firm. Within consulting you will find firms reporting single-digit gaps with women across every pay quartile, and others above twenty-five per cent with almost no women at partner level. To judge an individual employer, look for concrete signals rather than the headline number.
Look at where women sit, not just the top-line gap. UK employers with 250 or more staff publish the share of women in each pay quartile. A consulting firm with women spread across all four is in a genuinely different place from one where they cluster in the bottom two.
Look at the trend over several years. A gap that is narrowing shows intent and follow-through. A gap that has sat still for five years, however respectable it looks, tells you the firm has stopped trying.
Look for the practical markers: transparent promotion criteria, genuine flexibility rather than a grudging exception, family leave beyond the statutory minimum, real support for returners after a career break, staffing policies that do not penalise part-time consultants, and visible women at partner and director level who rose through the firm. For more on spotting these, our guides to finding jobs that fit you and inclusive recruitment go deeper.
How to check before you join
You do not have to guess. Every UK employer with 250 or more staff publishes its gender pay gap figures on the government service at gender-pay-gap.service.gov.uk, free to search. Look the firm up, read the median as well as the mean, check the four pay quartiles, and pay close attention to the bonus gap, which in consulting is often the most revealing figure of all. Then compare the firm with other consulting employers rather than with the whole economy, because a twenty per cent gap that beats its peers is a very different signal from a twenty per cent gap that trails them.
The RecruitHer company gender scorecard does this comparison for you, pulling the published data together with the multi-year trend and a sector benchmark so you can see how a consulting employer stacks up against its real peers. If you want the full method, read how the scorecard works. The takeaway is straightforward: consulting can be an excellent career for women, with strong pay, fast development, and genuine demand for skills, as long as you choose the firms that have done the work, and the published data lets you choose with your eyes open.
Frequently asked questions
What is the gender pay gap in the UK consulting industry?
Consulting sits within the professional, scientific and technical activities sector, which reports an above-average gender pay gap. The largest UK advisory firms routinely publish median gaps in the high teens to the twenties, well above the all-industries median of 6.9% for April 2025. Individual firms vary widely, so always check the specific employer on the official service.
Why is the consulting gender pay gap so wide?
Mainly because women thin out through the senior grades. Firms often recruit close to an even split at graduate level, but the manager, senior manager, and partner grades, which pay the most, remain heavily male. The gap reflects who holds which roles across the firm, not women being paid less for identical work, which would be unlawful.
Is the consulting gender pay gap the same as unequal pay?
No. Equal pay means paying men and women the same for the same work and is required by law. The gender pay gap measures the difference in average pay across a whole firm, driven mostly by role mix. A consulting firm can report a wide gap while still paying fairly for identical grades.
Which consulting firms are best for women?
The ones with women across all four pay quartiles, a gap that narrows over several years, a smaller-than-average bonus gap, genuine flexibility, staffing that does not penalise part-time work, and visible women at partner level. Check an employer’s published figures and compare them within consulting rather than against the whole economy.
This is educational information, not legal advice. Pay, rights and an employer’s obligations can vary by contract, role and circumstance. For impartial guidance, contact ACAS, and look up any employer’s figures on the official gender pay gap service.
Last reviewed: August 2026
See how employers score for women on RecruitHer’s company gender scorecard.