The share of women on the management boards of Germany’s biggest companies surpassed the 20% mark for the first time last year; progress that still leaves Europe’s biggest economy lagging in the gender equality charts.
Of the 22 new board members of companies in the benchmark DAX Index appointed in 2022, half were female, according to a survey published by Ernst & Young on Thursday. That took the total share of female representation to 21.2%. Cast the net wider to include the 50 members of the MDAX Index for medium-sized enterprises and the 70 smaller companies that make up the SDAX Index, and the proportion drops to a more sobering 15.5%.
Top German Companies’ Slow Progress on Gender Equality
Share of female management board members at 40 DAX firms
While that marks a significant increase from a meager 4.9% in 2013; progress is slow, Markus Heinen, EY’s head of People Advisory Services for Western Europe said in a statement.
“The trend is still very subdued,” he said. “Progress could and should be faster. Currently, there are seven men for every woman sitting on management boards.”
Almost half of the companies surveyed count no women at all on their management boards. Female chief executive officers are similarly underrepresented — only nine of 160 companies were led by a woman.
One high-profile CEO appointee, Carla Kriwet — who took the helm of dialysis care provider Fresenius Medical Care AG in October 2022 — unexpectedly departed after just two months on the job over differences in strategy.
Source: Bloomberg