Status: 10/19/2022 10:27 am
In the DAX companies, the proportion of women on the executive boards is only 14 percent. Just three listed companies have a balanced ratio of women and men.
For the first time, three DAX companies have a balanced ratio of women and men on the executive board. According to a report by the German-Swedish AllBright Foundation, which campaigns for more women and diversity in business leadership, this is the case for auto parts supplier Continental, dialysis specialist Fresenius Medical Care and medical technology maker Siemens Healthineers.
According to the study, a balanced gender ratio is achieved when the proportion of the underrepresented group is at least 40 percent. Three other companies in the leading German index – Beiersdorf, Deutsche Telekom and Mercedes Benz – are also not far away.
The proportion of women in the corporations continues to grow only slightly
In general, however, the proportion of women in the top floors of the largest German companies increased only slightly by 0.8 percentage points to 14.2 percent within a year. As of September, the executive boards of the 160 DAX, MDAX and SDAX companies were occupied by 599 men and 99 women. Almost 85 percent of the board members are still men.
According to the authors of the report, the good momentum of the previous year in increasing the proportion of women has weakened this year. The small increase in the proportion of women is solely due to the large DAX companies. More than half of all female board members are part of a DAX group.
Rate lower in smaller companies
“More than ever, it’s about repositioning yourself better and securing the best minds for this – including and especially the female ones,” emphasized the foundation’s managing directors Wiebke Ankersen and Christian Berg. The DAX companies are currently doing this best. On the other hand, it will be more difficult for medium-sized and small companies that do not yet have a woman on the board. “Because the trend that female top managers prefer to choose companies in which there are already women on the executive team was confirmed again this year.”
The proportion of women on the executive boards of medium-sized companies in the MDAX stagnated at 11.3 percent, and at 10.4 percent in smaller companies in the SDAX. According to the study, these companies often failed to replace retiring top managers with female colleagues last year. In 74 MDAX and SDAX companies there is currently not a single woman on the board. According to the study, given the average rate of change over the past five years, it would take another 26 years for women to make up 50 percent of stock exchange executive boards.
The study also identifies companies that do not have a woman on either the executive board or the supervisory board. These include the financial broker Hypoport, the car rental company Sixt, the battery manufacturer Varta and the Adler Group.
More bosses named Christian than female CEOs
At the top of the board, women continue to be an exception. The number of female chairmen increased from eight to nine in the previous year. After September 1st, Carla Kriwet was promoted to CEO of the dialysis specialist Fresenius Medical Care. There are currently more CEOs named Christian (ten) than female CEOs (nine).
In the medium term, however, the foundation sees opportunities for more female managers at the top. One in four of the new women on the board was last recruited for the finance department. In the past, this position was often a springboard for the chairmanship of the board.
Legal template
Listed companies with equal co-determination with more than 2000 employees and more than three board members must now ensure that at least one woman sits on the top floor when filling the board. The minimum participation bid applies to orders from August 1, 2022.
According to the Federal Minister for Women, Lisa Paus, the law works. Even before it came into force, the companies had appointed more board members. “And yet we cannot rest on our laurels,” warned the Greens politician in a closing statement.
Germany in international comparison
According to the study, even some of the DAX companies are lagging behind internationally. In the DAX, the proportion of women is 20.2 percent. In contrast, the proportion of women in the top echelons of the 40 largest listed companies in the USA is around 31 percent, followed by Great Britain (27.9 percent) and Sweden (26.5 percent).
In the United States, Tesla is the only company among the 40 largest corporations without a woman. In the German DAX, on the other hand, there are seven companies: including Linde, Munich Re and Porsche Automobil Holding.