The Shrinking Gap
   
Our survey revealed that women do not feel any more or less satisfied with their base salaries than men. Certainly, this marks an important shift; however, it does not seem surprising, given the efforts many firms have been making to assure women equal opportunities for advancement, while providing them with the flexible work arrangements.
 
One of the most noteworthy developments is the onslaught of part-time opportunities many firms now offer, which allow individuals to work less time while still remaining on a partner track. Almost 20 years ago, Bain was one of the first firms to start offering part-time options, or “flex-time.”
 
Bain’s program was designed to allow consultants to work at 60 percent — spending 50 percent of their time doing client casework and 10 percent of their time doing personal/professional development. The program began as an effort to retain women who were leaving the firm to raise families. Now, despite the fact that the program has always been an option for both men and women, it continues to be marketed toward women, as evidenced by information featured in recruiting materials titled “Women at Bain.” This is not surprising, since it reflects social norms that have not changed significantly since.
 
Today, Bainies applaud their flex-time options: 88 percent of consultants at Bain tell us that they are highly satisfied or satisfied with their part-time options, compared to the industry-wide average of 78 percent. But several firms, including BCG, KSA, MOW, and Monitor, have part-time options of their own.

However, although women are as satisfied as men with their salaries, they are not quite as convinced that glass ceilings have been shattered as their male counterparts are. (Eighty-one percent of women say there is no glass ceiling, compared to 89 percent of men.) One reason for this may be that currently, the vast majority of partners at firms continue to be men. At some firms, female partners are practically nonexistent. And not every firm that offers part-time opportunities has worked out a transparent promotion system, meaning that promotions for part-timers take much longer — and it’s not always clear why.
 
 

The Waiting Game
   
Our survey also exposed to us that midlevel consultants are likely to be unhappy with their salaries and distraught with their firm’s profit-sharing. A glimpse at a chart that illustrates different satisfaction levels according to position reveals the disconnect.
 
“At those levels, you don’t have the visibility of what the market is,” explains Rohn, who admits that he remembers being dissatisfied with compensation when he was at that level. It seems that because these consultants fall into a hazy bracket between associate-level compensation, where salaries must be competitive across firms, and profit-sharing opportunities, where the money’s at, they are expected to work long hours while being unsure of what they may be getting elsewhere, knowing that their colleagues with bigger titles are making significantly more.
 
McIntyre believes that “the model of consulting as a business, over the last 50 years, has been that there is a prize, which is becoming part of the partnership, and part of the motivation for people who come up through the ranks is that they’re aiming for that prize because the economics at that level are very attractive.”