The proportion of women on DAX boards stagnates at 23% after meeting the legal requirement. Last year, nine women left and only eight new ones joined. Seven of the women who left were only in office for three years.
The proportion of women on the boards of DAX companies stagnates at 23 percent after the legal quota has been met. The human resources consultancy Russell Reynolds came to this conclusion in an analysis.
According to this, nine female board members left last year and only eight were added. “What’s even more serious is that seven of the nine departing board members held their office for less than three years,” said consultant Jens-Thomas Pietralla in Munich.
Inequality in exit and tenure
Of the male board members, only 15 percent left so early. According to Russell Reynolds, on average the men who left in 2023 had a term of office of almost eight years. They were also, on average, six years older than the women who were eliminated.
“No one left because they reached the age limit, but for men, age played a role in 35 percent of the outgoing board members.”
Classic Distribution of roles remains
Four of the eight newly appointed women were entrusted with the management of the human resources department. The four others would have received a board position with responsibility for results. “But in order to qualify for the role of CEO on the board through responsibility for results, you often have to have previously proven yourself in operational business by managing a region or managing a business area,” said consultant Thomas Tomkos.
“Female managers with these experiences are rare.” In this way, the classic distribution of roles between men and women on the board remains intact.
MDAX shows slight improvement
According to Russell Reynolds, the proportion of women in the MDAX, the stock market index of medium-sized German stock companies, rose from just under 14 to a good 17 percent last year. Nine women were added, including five as CFOs; four were eliminated.
According to the law, listed companies with equal co-determination must have at least one woman with four or more board members.