Study - So many women in German corporation chairs as never before
Every fifth supervisory board in the 180 largest stock-listed companies is female. The percentage of women in executive offices has risen to 19.3 (2023: 18.3) percent by the end of June and reached a record high, reported the Initiative "Women on Supervisory Boards" (FidAR) on Monday in Berlin.
Still significantly fewer women than men
In the supervisory boards of companies in the DAX, MDax, SDax and other parity-co-determined companies, the percentage of women is now 37.3 (35.3) percent. "Most companies are still far from achieving parity in their committees," the study states.
Since 2022, a woman must be a member of the supervisory board in companies with more than three members. According to FidAR, this applies to 65 of the investigated companies. Three of them – Südzucker, the insurance and building society consortium Wüstenrot & Württembergische (W&W), and the printing machine manufacturer Koenig & Bauer – still had no woman on the board. This applies to more than one third of the 180 companies.
For 104 of the 180 companies, a quota of at least 30 percent for women is prescribed in their supervisory boards. The average for these companies is 38.5 percent, while it is only 33.5 percent for the other 76 companies. "The pressure of leadership position laws is working," said Federal Minister for Women Lisa Paus.
The initiative "Women on Supervisory Boards" (FidAR) highlighted that despite the mandatory inclusion of a woman in supervisory boards of larger companies since 2022, companies like Südzucker, Wüstenrot & Württembergische (W&W), and Koenig & Bauer, all part of the DAX-Companies, have yet to meet this requirement, presenting a clear challenge towards achieving gender equality. The Women's Quota regulation, with a minimum of 30%, has significantly improved the representation of women in 104 Dax-Companies, with an average of 38.5%, underscoring the effectiveness of this legislation in Berlin.
