Women are dramatically under-represented in the boardrooms of major corporations in Germany and need state-imposed quotas to achieve parity, according to a recent study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin. Although Chancellor Angela Merkel may run the country, when it comes to business women only make up 2.5 percent of the members of executive boards at the 200 biggest German companies, holding 21 seats out of 833.

Among the 30 firms listed on the DAX blue-chip index, electronics giant Siemens is the only group to have a woman on its board, it said. The situation is slightly better on German corporate supervisory boards, with 10 percent of seats held by women. But most represent employees rather than management.

Nor surprisingly, board diversity is on the agenda for the German Government Commission conference on the corporate governance code to be held in mid-June in Berlin. Other issues for consideration will be ongoing director education and managing conflicts of interests.

Links

German Corporate Governance Commission >>

Frauen in Spitzengremien großer Unternehmen >>
(German only)