Gender Economics Research Group Publications

Financial Sector: Share of Women on Corporate Boards Increases Slightly but Men Still Call the Shots

In 2015, the share of women in the top decision-making bodies of the financial sector increased once again but men remain in the overwhelming majority and thus continue to call the shots. At the end of 2015, women made up just under eight percent of executive board members of the 100 largest banks in Germany. The corresponding figure for the 59 largest insurance companies was a good nine percent. In ...

Higher Shares of Women on Corporate Boards Still a Long Way Off: Eight Questions to Elke Holst

Corporate Boards of Large Companies: More Momentum Needed for Gender Parity

Germany’s large corporations still have a long way to go before achieving balanced representation of men and women on their boards. At the end of 2015, the share of women on the executive boards of the top 200 companies in Germany was a good six percent, an increase of less than one percentage point over 2014. The share of women on the supervisory boards of these top 200 companies was almost 20 percent ...

I Find the Term "Quota Woman" Unobjective: Eight Questions to Norma Schmitt

Towards a Gender Quota

In 2016, a fixed gender quota will come into force in Germany, affecting the supervisory boards of listed companies that also have employee representation (full codetermination).1 By as early as September 30, 2015, however, all companies will be obliged to set a self-imposed target quota – even companies that meet just one of these criteria; i.e., either listed or subject to codetermination. A variety ...

Financial Sector: Share of Women in Top Decision-Making Bodies Remains Low

At the end of 2014, women were no better represented on the top decision-making bodies of enterprises in the financial sector than the previous year. The share of women on the executive boards of the 100 largest banks and savings banks remained at an average of almost seven percent and on the executive boards of the 60 largest insurance companies at 8.5 percent. On supervisory boards, change was slow ...

Executive Boards of Large Companies Remain Male-Dominated Monocultures: Seven Questions to Elke Holst

Executive Board and Supervisory Board Members in Germany’s Large Corporations Remain Predominantly Male

The executive boards of large corporations in Germany continue to be in men’s hands: at the close of 2014, a good five percent of executive board members at the top 200 companies in Germany were women. This is equivalent to an increase of one percentage point over 2013, which is evidence of the rather sluggish development in this area. DAX 30 companies recorded the largest proportion of female board ...

Eastern Germany Ahead in Employment of Women

Almost a quarter of a century after the fall of the Wall, there are still more women in employment in eastern Germany than in the west. Although the disparity is marginal now, the two regions started from dramatically different levels. In 1991, immediately after reunification, the employment rate for women in western Germany was 54.6 percent, but since then it has increased year on year, reaching 67.5 ...

Reunification: An Economic Success Story

People’s expectations after the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago and of reunification in 1990 were huge. The government promised to create “flourishing landscapes” within a few years. The euphoria of reunification came not only through the desire to finally become one country and one nation again but also had tangible economic reasons: the people from East Germany wanted better economic prospects, ...