Business

McDonald’s Launches Push for Gender Balance and Diversity

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — McDonald’s has signed the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles to further mark the company’s commitment to progress.

Published

7 years ago

March 10, 2019

Oakland Post

By Sentinel News Service

As communities around the world celebrate International Women’s Day, McDonald’s Corporation announced the launch of its new BETTER TOGETHER: Gender Balance & Diversity strategy. By 2023, the company aims to improve the representation of women at all levels of McDonald’s, achieve gender equality in career advancement, and champion the impact of women on the business. In addition, McDonald’s has signed the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles to further mark the company’s commitment to progress.

“Gender balance and diversity makes McDonald’s stronger,” said McDonald’s Chief People Officer, David Fairhurst. “Together with our franchisees, McDonald’s provides jobs for almost 2 million people across the world and is one of the world’s largest employers of women. We’re committed to inspiring workplaces where everyone – from crew to c-suite – is equally supported and empowered to realize their full potential. But we also want to drive progress on a global scale by encouraging franchisees, suppliers and other partners to deliver initiatives that drive gender balance and improve diversity, with the goal of reaching millions of women worldwide. Our new strategy will help deliver this commitment and is designed to ensure that we’re clearly defining and hitting our targets, day-in and day-out.”

The four pillars of the strategy will guide McDonald’s in developing key milestones and piloting a range of activities to promote gender balance:

Representation:Aim for the representation of women at every level in the business to be equal to – or better than – the representation of women in the external workforce.
Rising:Enhance equality in career advancement for men and women.
Recognition: Celebrate the voices and impact of women in the business and report on progress globally.
Reach: Achieve progress on a global scale by encouraging franchisees and suppliers to deliver strategies that drive gender balance and improve diversity, with the goal of reaching millions of women worldwide.

McDonald’s will advance education and development programs to support women to progress. As part of this, McDonald’s is piloting a new “Women in Tech” initiative through its signature education and tuition assistance program, Archways to Opportunity, to enable women from company-owned restaurants and participating franchisee restaurants to learn skills in areas such as data science, cyber security, artificial intelligence and more. The goal of this initiative is to support broader representation of women in technology fields and support employees on their path to success – at McDonald’s and beyond. The pilot will start in the U.S. this spring with the goal of rolling it out to more countries in the future. McDonald’s will work with Microsoft to provide the technical skills curriculum and Colorado Technical University to deliver access to the learning. This initiative will offer US participants college credits, a credential upon completion and help them build a foundation for lifelong learning that’s necessary to compete in this 21^st century economy.

At present, 30 percent of McDonald’s Officer positions and 41 percent of staff positions at Director level and above are held by women globally, and in the US, 60 percent of all Restaurant Managers are women. Key actions McDonald’s will take to further improve representation and progression include: using gender neutral job-descriptions in English speaking countries for office and restaurant roles, increasing diverse candidate slates and interview panels, as well as investing in tools that use artificial intelligence to recognize and root out bias from the selection process. McDonald’s will also review its high-potential talent pools to promote gender balance and accelerate their careers through executive mentoring and sponsorship.

To mark the launch with a statement of support for workplace inclusion, McDonald’s CEO, Steve Easterbrook and other senior leaders across the business took to LinkedIn – the world’s largest job site. By switching their profile pictures for the McDonald’s arches turned upside down, the leaders aim to raise awareness of unconscious bias and the importance of mitigating it. Having reached over 10,000 employees with bias awareness training, McDonald’s is committed to its continued global roll out, and integrating the training into existing education platforms, talent management processes, leadership development, and training for talent agency partners.

In the US, McDonald’s is proud to have been included in the YWCA and Impact Shares ETF, WOMN, as well as having been recognized by both Catalyst and HRC as a company that is championing equality in the workplace.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

PRESS ROOM: Twenty Marching Bands Selected To Join 2020 Rose Parade®

Don't Miss

PRESSROOM: NABJ’s Call for Diversity at CNN Grows

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of March 18 – 24, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 18 – 24, 2026

Published

1 week ago

March 22, 2026

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Advice

Financial Wellness and Mental Health: Managing Money Stress in College 

While everyone’s financial situation is unique, several common sources of stress have the potential to strain your financial health. These include financial and economic uncertainty, existing debts, unexpected expenses, and mental or physical health changes. Financial stress may differ from situation to situation, but understanding the factors contributing to yours may help you begin to craft a plan for your unique circumstances.

Published

2 weeks ago

March 17, 2026

Oakland Post

Sponsored by JPMorganChase

As a college student, managing financial responsibilities can be stressful.

If you’ve found yourself staying up late thinking about your finances or just feeling anxious overall about your financial future, you’re not alone. In one survey, 78% of college students who reported financial stress had negative impacts on their mental health, and 59% considered dropping out. While finances can impact overall stress, taking steps to manage your finances can support your mental, emotional and physical well-being.

When it comes to money, the sources of stress may look different for each student, but identifying the underlying causes and setting goals accordingly may help you feel more confident about your financial future.

Consider these strategies to help improve your financial wellness and reduce stress.

Understand what causes financial stress

2. Determine your financial priorities

Start by reflecting on your financial priorities. For students this often includes paying for school or paying off student loans, studying abroad, saving for spring break, building an emergency fund, paying down credit card debt or buying a car. Name the milestones that are most important to you, and plan accordingly.

3. Create a plan and stick to it

While setting actionable goals starts you on the journey to better financial health, it’s essential to craft a plan to follow through. Identifying and committing to a savings plan may give you a greater sense of control over your finances, which may help reduce your stress. Creating and sticking to a budget allows you to better track where your money is going so you may spend less and save more.

4. Pay down debt

Many students have some form of debt and want to make progress toward reducing their debt obligations. One option is the debt avalanche method, which focuses on paying off your debt with the highest interest rate first, then moving on to the debt with the next-highest interest rate. Another is the debt snowball method, which builds momentum by paying off your smallest debt balance, and then working your way up to the largest amounts.

5. Build your financial resilience

Some financial stress may be inevitable, but building financial resilience may allow you to overcome obstacles more easily. The more you learn about managing your money, for instance, the more prepared you’ll feel if the unexpected happens. Growing your emergency savings also may increase resilience since you’ll be more financially prepared to cover unexpected expenses or pay your living expenses.

6. Seek help and support

Many colleges have resources to help students experiencing financial stress, like financial literacy courses or funds that provide some assistance for students in need. Talk to your admissions counselor or advisor about your concerns, and they can direct you to sources of support. Your school’s counseling center can also be a great resource for mental health assistance if you’re struggling with financial stress.

The bottom line

Financial stress can affect college students’ health and wellbeing, but it doesn’t have to derail your dreams. Setting smart financial goals and developing simple plans to achieve them may help ease your stress. Revisit and adjust your plan as needed to ensure it continues to work for you, and seek additional support on campus as needed to help keep you on track.

 JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC