Workplaces that work for Women - Parexel named 2022 Catalyst Award Winner
The annual Catalyst Award recognizes companies for accelerating opportunities for women and increasing women’s representation and inclusion across intersections of identity within their organizations.
Parexel was recognized for "Leveraging Gender Partnership to Advance Women in Leadership."
The culture change at the senior leadership level has permeated throughout Parexel across regions, functions, and levels.
Highlights of Parexel’s initiative:
- Wisdom Circle and Women in Leadership programs assist women in building the robust internal network that is crucial to advancement. Both programs successfully engage men as mentors, sponsors, and champions, leveraging their experience and participation in training programs for men, including Catalyst’s MARC and Parexel’s Changemakers.
- CEO Jamie Macdonald and Parexel’s executive committee continue to lead a profound change in senior leadership culture by bringing in high-profile external speakers and providing unconscious bias training for the senior leadership team. These efforts have enabled leadership to recognize their own biases in a safe and supportive environment. The culture change at the senior leadership level has permeated throughout Parexel across regions, functions, and levels.
- Parexel’s work is global, with regional DEI committees established to develop and execute strategies reflective of the concerns and needs of their regions.
- Parexel has stressed and focused on diversity among its clinical trial participants to create pharmaceutical products that are safe and effective for the populations that use them.
Highlights of the results:
The representation of women globally among senior leadership ranks has increased across each job band level between 2014 and 2021. Particularly noteworthy are the increases at the senior vice president level from 13.3% to 38.8% and from 32.3% to 50.3% at the vice president level during this timeframe. In addition, in the United States, representation of women of color in Parexel’s workforce increased across several job levels, including an increase from 0% to 10% at the SVP level (10 percentage points) and 3.3% to 14.8% (11.5 percentage points) at the VP level. Parexel’s new board is comprised of 57% women and 29% women of color.
“It is an honor to receive this prestigious award reflecting the importance of women in leadership. This recognition is a testament to the commitment Parexel has made to diversity in everything we do. From diversity of patients in our clinical trials to our hiring practices, to diversity in our Board, we are committed to fair and inclusive practices across every aspect of our global organization.”
Jamie Macdonald, CEO
“Our gender equity initiative is a multipronged effort to develop women leaders. Our focus is on creating a culture where everyone is valued, respected and supported and the Catalyst Award recognition is an affirmation of those efforts.”
Aida Sabo, Vice President and Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
