Parity still a long way off / FidAR Forum 2024 calls for substantial progress in increasing the proportion of women in management positions in Germany

Press Release

Parity still a long way off / FidAR Forum 2024 calls for substantial progress in increasing the proportion of women in management positions in Germany

• Federal Minister Paus: "We need more women on supervisory boards and management boards."
• FidAR President Seng: "Equal participation must go beyond legal requirements."

Berlin, 31.01.2024: DAX companies are leading the way when it comes to equal participation of women in Germany. The proportion of women on the management boards of the 40 companies listed in the leading index of the German stock exchange has reached a new high of 23.8 per cent - but parity is still a long way off. On the supervisory boards, the proportion of women is still just below the 40 per cent mark at 38.5 per cent. This is the result of an exclusive evaluation of the FidAR Women-on-Board Index as of February 2024 for today's FidAR Forum 2024 at the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in the German capital Berlin.

15, or more than a third, of DAX companies have more than one woman on the Executive Board, and at least two women are represented on all Supervisory Boards. With Siemens Healthineers, one DAX company has a board with equal representation of women and men. Only one board - Porsche SE - has no women. Six supervisory boards at Hannover Re, Zalando, Commerzbank, Covestro, Heidelberg Materials and Vonovia have at least equal representation of women and men.

In contrast, the drive to increase the proportion of women among the 179 companies currently listed on the DAX, MDAX and SDAX as well as the companies listed on the Regulated Market with parity co-determination has weakened significantly overall. The proportion of women on supervisory boards has risen slightly to 36.5 per cent (May 2023: 35.3 %), while the proportion of women on management boards is 19.3 per cent (May 2023: 18.3 %). 65 companies still have no women on the board (36.3%), eight supervisory boards are female-free. Only 27 of the 179 companies (15.1%) have more than one woman on the board.

There are rays of hope, however, at the start of the year: Bechtle and Salzgitter have appointed a woman to the previously all-male Executive Board. Antje Leminsky will take over the Logistics, Procurement and Partner Management, Financial Services and Sustainability Management departments at IT company Bechtle on 1 February 2024. At Salzgitter, Birgit Potrafki will also take over the role of CFO on 1 February 2024. In addition, Gina Vargiu-Breuer has been appointed to the SAP Executive Board as Chief People Officer and Labour Director and Dr Katja Scharpwinkel has been appointed to the BASF Executive Board as Labour Director as of 1 February 2024.

Federal Minister for Women Paus: "Statutory quotas work - voluntary commitment too low"

"We want more women on the top boards of the German economy. The legal requirements are an important step in this direction: we are seeing more women moving into management positions. The quota is working. The federal government is setting a good example and showing that things can be done even better and, above all, faster. Both in the highest federal authorities and in federal companies, the proportion of women in management positions is over 40 per cent, with a clear upward trend. I hope that private companies will also pick up the pace," emphasised Federal Minister for Women Lisa Paus at today's FidAR Forum.

FidAR President Seng: "Fulfilment of duty is not enough"

"The fact that the DAX companies are leading the way has a signalling effect. But we expect significantly more commitment, especially from companies that are not subject to the legal requirements. Otherwise, the goal of parity cannot be achieved. As we show at today's FidAR Forum, it's about more than just numbers! It is not enough to fill a single board position with a woman. Substantial progress requires concrete strategies for sustainably increasing the proportion of women at all management levels. Targets for the Supervisory Board, Executive Board and the first and second management levels must be defined and communicated in such a way that a clear will to not only promote women, but also to advance them, is recognisable. This is the only way we can achieve equal representation in management bodies in the medium term," explains the President of FidAR, Prof Dr Anja Seng.

In view of the successful development of the companies subject to the legal requirements, FidAR sees great potential in extending the regulations to significantly more companies. This is because in the 101 companies currently subject to the gender quota on supervisory boards, the proportion of women on both supervisory boards (38.1%) and management boards (21.1%) is still significantly higher than in the 78 companies that are not subject to the quota. The same applies to the only 61 companies that are subject to the minimum participation requirement - they are also well above the average values of the 179 companies analysed in the Supervisory Board (37.5 %) and Management Board (22.2 %).

"The joy about the success of the legal requirements is clouded by their limited scope. We should extend this effective lever to all co-determined or listed companies. Women in management positions must also become the norm in companies that are not subject to the regulations. We cannot afford for the German economy to fall further behind in terms of equal participation in international comparison," said FidAR President Seng.

The FidAR Forum is one of the largest conferences for equal participation in management positions in the German economy. The event is sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.

The detailed study on FidAR's Women-on-Board Index 185 from July 2023 and updated figures on the WoB Index as of February 2024 can be found at www.wob-index.de.The Women-on-Board Index currently analyses 179 companies listed on the DAX, MDAX and SDAX as well as those listed on the Regulated Market with parity co-determination. Of these, 101 companies are subject to the gender quota of 30 per cent for the supervisory board and 61 are subject to the minimum participation requirement on the management board.

Your contact persons

Prof Dr Anja Seng, President of FidAR - Frauen in die Aufsichtsräte e. V., Berlin
Phone: +49 (1 51) 12 54 64 60, e-mail: anja.seng@fidar.de

Press contact

Matthias Struwe | Eye Communications | Agency for Press and Public Relations
Phone: +49 (7 61) 137 62-21, e-mail: m.struwe@eyecommunications.de

About FidAR:

FidAR - Frauen in die Aufsichtsräte e. V. is a non-partisan and supra-regional initiative founded in 2006 by women in management positions in business, science and politics. FidAR aims to achieve a sustainable increase in the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of German companies and to improve corporate governance and culture. The aim of the initiative, which is supported by over 1,400 women and men, is to achieve equal representation in all management positions in the German economy. FidAR pursues these goals in close dialogue with business, politics, science and in cooperation with the relevant business and women's associations. More information about FidAR is available on the Internet at www.fidar.de.