The top floor of German companies has become more feminine. In an international comparison, however, according to a study, Germany is still lagging behind.
More women than usual made the leap to the top floor of listed companies in Germany this year.
As of September 1, there were 25 women on the board of directors more than in the previous year, according to a study by the non-profit Allbright Foundation. It is the largest annual growth to date in the 160 companies in the Dax family. Never before have so many women been recruited for management.
The proportion of top female managers rose by 3.3 percentage points to 13.4 percent. According to this, 93 women sat opposite 603 men on the boards of the companies from Dax, MDax and SDax. According to the information, more than half (81) of the companies evaluated still have no women on their board of directors.
Don’t hide behind the one «alibi woman»
The largest increase was with plus 5.4 percentage points to a proportion of women of 18.2 percent on the boards of the 30 DAX companies. After the top stock exchange league was expanded by 10 corporations on September 20, the share fell to 17.4 percent. Because half of the DAX newcomers have reportedly no manager on the board.
In an international comparison, Germany lags further behind. In the 30 stock market heavyweights in the USA, the proportion of women is 31.1 percent, followed by Great Britain (27.4 percent) and Sweden (27.1 percent).
“Companies shouldn’t sit back and hide behind one“ alibi woman ”,” demanded the managing directors of the Allbright Foundation, Wiebke Ankersen and Christian Berg. “You will have to be judged by whether a real transformation is taking place here, as it has long been in full swing in other western industrialized countries.”
As with digitization, a new departure is needed that will advance the German economy, “and that requires a significantly higher proportion of women on the executive boards.”
Politicians had recently increased the pressure: According to the “second management position law”, large companies in Germany will have to give more consideration to women when filling positions at the highest management level. Accordingly, in listed companies with equal co-determination with more than 2000 employees and more than three board members, at least one woman must sit on the committee in future. This must be taken into account when filling new posts.
There is a risk of fines
Other listed or co-determined companies that do not fall under the minimum requirement should justify if they plan without women for their board of directors – that is, if they state a “target value zero” in their reports. If this does not happen, there is a risk of fines. According to the study, 37 of the companies evaluated named the “target value zero”.
The German-Swedish Allbright Foundation advocates more women and diversity in management positions in business.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
