We strongly recommend an article in the September edition 05/2024 of FINANCE Magazin in which the editor Esra Laubach examines in detail the topic of "Women in the restructuring industry." Why is it men who take on almost all of the big restructuring assignments? What do members of the industry – both men and women – make of this fact? And how might it be possible to change this situation?

Networking is a key issue in this context. In our view at Haselhorst Associates Consulting, an extensive network of people in the industry is absolutely crucial in order to acquire new assignments and, in the case of existing assignments, to be able to work on the basis of a relationship of trust with the many different stakeholders of a company in crisis. However, there are differences: "Many networks for men are simply significantly longer-established than those for women, even if both are highly professionalized," says Sabrina Hirniak.

However, this does not necessarily mean that there is a need for more explicitly women-only networks in order to increase the proportion of women in the restructuring industry – on the contrary. Ms. Hirniak argues in favor of removing these artificial borders between different networks: "It is really important to build joint networks for men and women, so that they can better complement one another."