According to René Obermann, “More women in executive positions is imperative for fairness within society.” The CEO of Deutsche Telekom intends to set a good example in this area and appoint women to 30% of the company’s executive positions in the next five years. However, not all large companies find it so easy to implement affirmative action programmes for women. A recent study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin confirmed a number of known facts: for example, the boardrooms of Germany’s leading companies are men’s clubs. There are just 21 women among the 833 board members of the 200 largest businesses – a proportion of 2.5%. By comparison, the average for the largest stock exchange-listed companies in Europe is 11%.
The fact that women continue to be massively underrepresented in top management has triggered a new debate. Demands for a women’s quota and voluntary commitments by business are doing the rounds. News magazine Der Spiegel published an article arguing why Germany needs a women’s quota. The idea has supporters and opponents among politicians. Federal Employment Minister Ursula von der Leyen has spoken in favour of a statutory 30% women’s quota to ensure that more women can assume leadership responsibility. This is the figure also being considered by the EU. On the other hand, Federal Family Minister Kristina Schröder put forward the idea of a “flexi-quota” that would allow businesses to voluntarily determine the proportion of women in executive posts.
Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel brought the debate to a temporary close. She criticized practically women-free corporate boardrooms, but rejected the demand for a fixed quota. She believes action must be taken on working hours arrangements, because that is the key to getting more women into top jobs.////
