Support and programmes for women and underrepresented candidates

Programmes firms and nonprofits publish for women and underrepresented candidates, who they are for, and how to use them, with dates and no promises about outcomes.

Firm processes and online tests change from year to year and differ by office. Use this to prepare, and confirm the exact current steps on the firm's own careers page.

Key takeaways

Check deadlines in autumn and winter: many programmes close months before the main recruiting season.
Apply with a CV that already meets the consulting standard.
Prepare for cases before you attend.

Checked on 2026-09-30

Every programme below is described from its own page. Firms, schools and programmes change their rules every year, so confirm the details on the linked page before you rely on them.

Firms and nonprofits run workshops, internships and coaching programmes for women and for candidates from groups that are underrepresented in consulting. They can give you practice, contacts and sometimes an early interview. They are not a shortcut to an offer, and their rules change often. In 2025 some US firms changed or ended diversity goals and eligibility wording (reported), so always read the current page.

Programmes run by firms (examples, not a complete list)

BCG Women's Intensiveship (Germany and Austria): a four-week practicum on project teams with mentoring and training. The page says it is open to German-speaking students of all subjects and universities, from the third semester of a bachelor's degree, master's and doctoral students, and people with early work experience. The 2026 intakes started in spring, summer and autumn, with deadlines of 6 January, 5 April and 26 June 2026.
Bain Building Entrepreneurial Leaders (BEL): founded in 2009 to help undergraduate students explore consulting. The page says 2026 applications are closed and to check back for the 2027 programme. Earlier descriptions in search results say it is for second-year undergraduates in the US and Canada (unverified until the 2027 page is published).
McKinsey Next Generation Women Leaders: according to search result snippets of McKinsey's page, a three-day in-person programme for women, with European and Asia-Pacific editions; the European 2026 edition was open to students graduating no later than 2027 and to professionals with up to eight years of experience, with applications due 23 February 2026. The page did not load for our checker, so treat these details as unverified.
Most large firms list their events by country on their careers sites. Search the site of each firm you target for "women", "events" or "diversity".

Programmes run by nonprofits (United States)

Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) Career Prep: more than 20 months of coaching and seminars for college sophomores who are US citizens or permanent residents and have lived experience with inequitable access to career resources. Consulting is one of its named industries. The page says it accepts all who meet the criteria, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or other demographic identity.
SEO Career: prepares high-achieving undergraduates from underserved communities for summer internships. The tracks on its page were financial services, technology, real estate and corporate; consulting was not listed as a separate track when we checked.
Forté Foundation: a nonprofit focused on launching women into business careers, with free membership for college students and an MBA application programme (MBALaunch) for women planning an MBA.

Getting the most from a programme

1Check deadlines in autumn and winter: many programmes close months before the main recruiting season.
2Apply with a CV that already meets the consulting standard. The CV lesson in this foundation shows how.
3Prepare for cases before you attend. Workshops move fast, and some end with an interview opportunity.
4Keep in touch with one or two people you met, with a short thank-you note and one specific question.
5Look closer to home too: your school's women in business club, first-generation student groups and careers office often run case practice.

What this lesson does not claim

We do not publish or repeat success rates for any programme, and taking part does not guarantee an interview or an offer. We list official descriptions only, dated, and link the page so you can check it.

Check your understanding

You find a firm's women's workshop that closed last month. What is the best move?

Last reviewed: 2026-09-30. Sources, official pages first. "Reported" means a secondary source, not the firm, school or government itself.

BCG: Women's Intensiveship in Germany and Austria (in German) (official): https://careers.bcg.com/global/en/germany-austria-womens-intensiveship
Bain: Building Entrepreneurial Leaders (BEL) (official): https://www.bain.com/careers/bel
McKinsey: Next Generation Women Leaders (read from a search result snippet; the page did not load for our checker, so treat it as unverified): https://www.mckinsey.com/next-generation-women-leaders
Management Leadership for Tomorrow: Career Prep (the organization's own page): https://mlt.org/career-prep/
SEO Career (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity) (the organization's own page): https://career.seo-usa.org/
Forté Foundation (the organization's own page): https://www.fortefoundation.org/
People Matters ANZ, McKinsey adapts its diversity strategy while competitors step away (2025) (read from a search result snippet; the page did not load for our checker, so treat it as unverified): https://anz.peoplemattersglobal.com/news/diversity/mckinsey-adapts-dei-strategy-while-competitors-step-away-44366

Terms in this lesson

Fit interview On-cycle vs off-cycle recruiting

Sources for this lesson (7)

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