A significant increase in the number of women on boards was reported in companies with state-owned shares. Fifteen percent of the executive boards of these companies in 2014 included women, which was two percent more than in 2013. In supervisory boards, the number of women increased by more than five percent to 24%. The share of women on the executive and supervisory boards of these companies was the largest out of all the other groups studied with five female CEOs and nine female supervisory board chairs.
Although women represent the majority of workers in the German financial sector, they are still inadequately represented on the boards of financial institutions. In 2014, women made up seven percent of board members on the executive boards of the largest banks and eight and a half percent in the largest insurance companies. In both cases, there was almost no change. Bank supervisory boards were made up of 18% women and 17% on the supervisory boards in insurance companies. The situation remains the same in the public and private sectors.
In December 2014, the German government completed its bill which introduces mandatory quotas for female representation on the supervisory boards of publicly traded companies. The bill mandates that 30% of these positions should be held by women by 2016. However, none of the groups of German companies surveyed in the Women Executive Barometer 2014 study has come even close to this goal.
The authors of the study Elke Holst and Anja Kirsch note that the quota itself can't establish gender equality at the top management level. It is only the first step. Companies will need to focus more on flexible models of work schedules and career development.
The complete study is available for download at the German Institute for Economic Research website here.
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Article source DIW Berlin - The German Institute for Economic Research