Booz Allen Hamilton: An insider guide - Gymkhana

Workplace DiversityBooz Allen began a formal, firmwide diversity initiative in 1993 and appointeda director of diversity to oversee diversity recruiting, staff development, retention,training, policies, and benefits. For at least one insider, Booz Allen’scommitment to diversity was a significant factor in his decision to join the firm:“Since I’m African-American, it meant a lot to me that Booz Allen had quite afew black partners. It meant they took diversity seriously, and that was a bigselling point.” The firm actively recruits at minority conferences such as theNational Black MBA and National Hispanic MBA conferences. In 2001, thefirm rolled out a new paid internship program for college juniors and seniorswho attend any of the United Negro College Fund’s 39 member colleges anduniversities.The WorkplaceMinority hiring trends tend to differ from office to office, though some insidersreport that the government side of the firm is more diverse than the commercialside. “It’s still largely Asian and Caucasian, not as much Latino and African-American,” says an insider. A WCB insider says, “I think minorities seems to dobetter [here] in general. We’re certainly not representative of the general populationat higher levels, but we’re better than most of our clients.” Still anotherinsider says, “There probably aren’t enough minority and women in uppermanagement. We have a good mix of minorities and women up to the point ofthe senior associate position. Once people get to the more senior point, wehaven’t been able to maintain that [level of diversity]. We don’t have as manyfemale partners as some of our competitors do, [but] I don’t think it’s anythingcultural.”44