Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Intuit's Women's Training Plan
This paper presents a training plan designed to address gender inequality at Intuit, the financial software company behind Quicken and TurboTax. Drawing on research in human resources and organizational behavior, the paper examines how Intuit's historically male-dominated technology sector created an unintentional glass ceiling. It outlines strategies aligned with Intuit's 2008 Connected Services business strategy, covering targeted recruitment and retention approaches, the competitive advantages of gender diversity, key obstacles such as work-family conflict and the underrepresentation of women in management, and methods for improving the visibility of women both internally and through external advertising.
- Training and Business Strategy: Aligning diversity training with Intuit's 2008 Connected Services strategy
- Equal Opportunity and Competitive Advantage: Gender diversity as a driver of organizational performance
- Hiring and Keeping Women: A Targeted Approach: Targeted recruitment and retention strategies for women
- Obstacles in the Quest for Diversity: Three key barriers to attracting and retaining women
- Improving Visibility of Women: Advertising and internal strategies to raise women's visibility
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper anchors its diversity argument in business strategy, connecting gender inclusion directly to competitive advantage rather than treating it as purely a compliance issue.
- Each section builds logically on the last — from strategy context, to the business case, to practical hiring challenges, to concrete visibility solutions — giving the paper a coherent, persuasive arc.
- The use of peer-reviewed and conference research (Ali, Metz & Kulik; Griffiths & Moore; Noonan et al.) adds academic credibility to workplace policy recommendations.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied problem-solution structure: it identifies a specific organizational problem (underrepresentation of women at Intuit), establishes why it matters using evidence-based reasoning, and then proposes targeted, feasible interventions. This technique is common in business and human resources writing and shows students how to bridge academic research and practical organizational recommendations.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with company background and a problem statement, then moves through five substantive sections: aligning diversity with business strategy, making the competitive case for gender equality, discussing targeted recruitment and retention, cataloguing the three primary obstacles to diversity, and finally proposing advertising and visibility strategies to change Intuit's public image. The references follow APA format throughout.
Training and Business Strategy
Intuit revolutionized the accounting industry with innovative applications that assist with financial analysis and tax preparation. Since 1983, Intuit has been a proud leader, providing its most famous products — Quicken and TurboTax — to a wide variety of customers, from individuals to small businesses and corporations. The company has prided itself on providing an excellent workplace that sparks creativity and builds long-term relationships, fostering an atmosphere of continual learning and growth.
However, this focus on growth also means there is always room for improvement. The following examines a new training plan designed to take advantage of one area that could be improved. Although Intuit attracts young, ambitious employees, women have recently complained that their needs are being ignored. The following will examine a plan to include women in the Intuit workforce in a way that gives them truly equal opportunities compared to their male counterparts.
The key business strategy of Intuit played an essential role in the development of a largely male-dominated company. This was not intentional, but rather a result of operating in a male-dominated sector of the economy. It resulted in the unintentional development of a glass ceiling within the company and an atmosphere that favors young men over women.
In 2008, Intuit revealed a new Connected Services strategy that recognizes the growing importance of small businesses. The cornerstone of the strategy is the development of new online services that use QuickBooks as its backbone (Intuit Inc., 2008). The launch of a new business strategy requires corresponding changes in the training strategy. All employees must be aware of and understand how this new business strategy will affect their roles at Intuit. This will be an essential part of the successful launch of the new approach to QuickBooks core products and services.
References
Intuit Inc. (2008, August 13). Intuit unveils small business connected strategy. Intuit. Retrieved from http://about.Intuit.com/aboutIntuit/pressroom/pressrelease/2008/0813.jsp
Ali, M., Metz, I., & Kulik, C. (2007, December 4–7). Workforce gender diversity: Is it a source of competitive advantage? Paper presented at the 21st ANZAM Conference, Sydney, Australia. Retrieved from http://eprints.qut.edu.au/40898/1/40898.pdf
Griffiths, M., & Moore, K. (2010). Disappearing women: A study of women who left the UK workforce. Journal of Technology Management & Innovation, 5(1), 95–107.
Noonan, M., Estes, S., & Glass, J. (2007). Do workplace flexibility policies influence time spent in domestic labor? Journal of Family Issues, 28(2), 263–288.
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