Germany nonetheless behind in boardroom gender equality – DW – 03/05/2025 | EUROtoday

At the start of March, Petra Scharner-Wolff took over as CEO of Otto Group, a German conglomerate.

In Germany, Otto is an iconic firm greatest identified for its enormous catalogs, a replica of which sat in lots of properties throughout the nation for many years. In its heyday, the Otto catalog got here out twice a 12 months, had over 1,000 pages and included the whole lot from clothes and toys to total bed room units.

Today, Otto not prints its catalog however has remodeled into one of many world’s largest e-commerce platforms. Last 12 months, the privately owned firm had round 38,500 staff and introduced in €15 billion ($15.7 billion) in income. Its namesake Otto on-line platform gives 18 million objects on the market.

The change within the boardroom means the Otto household will not be straight in cost for the primary time within the firm’s historical past. Scharner-Wolff’s elevation can be a small victory for equality within the nation’s male-dominated enterprise world.

Germany behind in boardroom gender equality

One approach to measure gender equality is counting girls in management roles in firms. Though an imperfect measure because it would not rely all girls within the job market or take gender pay gaps under consideration, the concept has caught on.

Looking at 160 huge publicly listed firms in Germany in March 2025, girls made up 19.7% of their govt management groups and 37.4% of their boards of administrators, in response to a report by the AllBright Foundationa Swedish-German nonprofit that promotes extra girls and variety in companies.

Overall, there have been 561 males and 138 girls on the chief management groups.

Looking on the 40 blue-chip firms listed within the German DAX inventory market index, simply eight had three or extra girls on their govt management workforce. Porsche Holding is the one one with none.

Part of the issue is a conservative company tradition within the nation, says Wiebke Ankersen, co-director of the AllBright Foundation. “Companies have been doing very well for a long time and there wasn’t enough pressure to change,” Ankersen advised DW.

Blame all of it on nature?

There are further issues like tax guidelines that discourage married girls from working. “There is also a lack of tens of thousands of missing daycare places,” Ankersen stated. “Women in Germany often only work a few hours a week or below their qualification level and don’t even pursue a management career.”

There are a number of different causes for Germany’s low share of girls in administration positions, says Katharina Wrohlich, head of the Gender Economics Research Group on the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin.

“One significant factor is the prevailing gender norms in the labor market,” stated Wrohlich, who can be a professor of public finance, gender and household economics on the University of Potsdam. “Social attitudes toward full-time employment for mothers with young children are often negative, which adversely affects women’s opportunities for leadership roles.”

These deeply rooted gender stereotypes in company tradition typically get in the way in which. “Both fathers and mothers should be allowed to take time off for family reasons and have the option to work part-time,” Wrohlich advised DW. Afterward it can be crucial that firms encourage them to return to full-time work.

Germany has gone the authorized route

Over the previous twenty years, Wrohlich has seen some enchancment however says Germany remains to be removed from reaching gender parity. Looking ahead although “it remains uncertain whether we will continue to see positive developments in the future,” she stated.

“We have seen a positive development over the past five years, albeit at a low level,” agreed Wiebke Ankersen. “It has become difficult to present a board without a single woman on it as it is no longer socially accepted. Awareness of equal opportunities and diversity has grown and expectations of companies have increased.”

Still, on the present fee it’ll take one other 15 years to have as many ladies as males in administration and decision-making positions in German firms. “We simply can’t wait that long,” stated Ankersen.

The nation has two items of laws mandating gender quotas for many publicly listed firms. The first enacted in 2015 requires supervisory boards to be made up of no less than 30% girls.

A second piece of laws enacted in 2021 requires govt boards of publicly listed firms with greater than three members to have no less than one lady. These firms additionally should set targets to extend feminine illustration in different prime administration ranges.

The European Union takes motion

On the European Union stage there are comparable guidelines to advertise gender equality in management positions that may come into pressure in June 2026.

Since 2010, the illustration of girls on company boards has improved in most EU member states, however progress varies from nation to nation.

“In 2024, women accounted for 39.6% of the board members of the largest listed companies in countries with binding gender quotas, compared to 33.8% in countries with soft measures, and just 17% in countries that have taken no action at all,” in response to the EU Commission.

Otto is a family title in Germany

Because most gender equality guidelines are for public firms, family-owned companies are barely worse at getting girls into management roles in Germany, in response to one other examine by the AllBright Foundation printed in May 2024.

Of the 100 greatest family-owned firms in Germany, girls represented 12.6% of govt management groups. Out of the 100 firms, 53 did not have any girls of their management groups in any respect.

In this regard Otto Group is healthier than the typical. The new CEO Petra Scharner-Wolff has been on the chief board since 2015. Her outdated job as chief monetary officer might be stuffed by one other lady and firm insider, Katy Roewer. Now the six-person govt board may have two girls and 4 males.

Roewer already has a four-day week to have a greater work-life steadiness as a busy mom and intends to maintain that schedule in her new function.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler