Male consultants who feel gender targets have blocked their path to a big four partnership might see fresh opportunity at rival Accenture, after the US-listed consultancy abandoned its diversity commitments to comply with an executive order from US President Donald Trump.

The Australian operations of Deloitte, PwC, EY and KPMG have reaffirmed their commitments to diversity targets, which aim to increase the number of women in leadership positions, set long before the Trump-led backlash.