Equal representation of men and women in the leadership of German companies is still far away. At the end of 2015, only six percent of of all board members in the 200 largest companies in Germany (measured by turnover) were women. This was an increase of less than one percent from 2014. Although women took nearly 20% of the seats on supervisory boards, the growth rate of women entering top management is slowing down. These are the major findings of a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) entitled the Women Executive Barometer 2015.
The Women Executive Barometer study has monitored the representation of men and women on the boards of major German companies since 2006. It focuses on executive and supervisory boards of the 200 largest companies. The groups of companies that were analyzed include index DAX 30, MDAX, SDAX and TecDAX and 60 companies with government-owned shares. The study also focuses on the representation of women in the financial sector - in 100 of the largest banks and 60 insurance companies.
The Women Executive Barometer 2015 concludes that the development towards equal representation of both sexes on corporate boards "is moving at a snail’s pace". If the growth rate of the share of women remains as low as it has been in the past ten years, the two hundred largest German companies will have equally represented supervisory boards in another 25 years. Executive boards will have equal representation in another 86 years.
Quotas are mandatory, but ...
In general, DAX 30 companies (30 major companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange) and companies with government-owned shares achieved the best results among all the groups of companies that were monitored. However, of the hundred largest publicly traded companies which are legally obliged to to fulfill the 30% quota for female representation on supervisory boards, only 28% have fulfilled the obligation so far.
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. Although approximately 3,500 companies have a legal obligation to set voluntary quotas for women on executive and supervisory boards, there's no penalty for noncompliance. The state, according to the authors, should seek to improve career opportunities for women through tax and family policies.
The complete study is available for download at the German Institute for Economic Research website here.
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