Company boards: quota of women hits almost 30 large companies

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Daimler Board of Management during the 2020 Annual General Meeting: Quota met

Photo: Daimler AG / dpa

The plans for a binding quota of women on executive boards affect almost a third of the 100 largest listed companies in Germany.

According to an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), 29 of these companies have more than three members on the board of directors, but no position is occupied by a woman.

Accordingly, the federal government's proposal for a law would mean that, according to the current situation, 29 women would move into the executive boards.

“But it would have to be 175 to catch up with the male colleagues.

The change is rather marginal, «said Nicole Voigt, partner at BCG.

The grand coalition has basically agreed on a binding women's quota for board members.

According to this, a member of the executive boards of listed companies with equal co-determination and with more than three members must be a woman at the latest after a new appointment.

This is aimed at corporations, for example from the Dax, that have large executive bodies.

But no law has yet been passed.

A third can continue as before

The BCG study shows that the planned quota of women does not mean changes for all large companies.

27 companies in the top 100 by market value, i.e. almost a third, could therefore continue to lead an all-male executive board, as they have fewer than three members.

In 44 corporations, however, there is already at least one woman on the board.

The quota of women will raise the proportion of women on board members in the top 100 companies by six percentage points to 16 percent if the plans of the federal government are implemented by all companies concerned by 2022 and the layout of their board members remains the same.

This would mean that Germany would move up into the middle field in terms of the proportion of women on executive boards in an EU comparison.

“In two years we would be where Spain and Portugal are today.

The quota is a step in the right direction, «said BCG expert Voigt.

But it is also conceivable that companies expand their board members to include new posts with women.

After a long struggle, the SPD and Union had agreed on the plans for a binding women's quota.

According to a report commissioned by the federal government, voluntary self-specifications by companies had hardly any consequences for the proportion of women on executive boards.

Lots of skilled women

Despite some criticism, there are enough potential candidates for board positions, the BCG states.

In the 100 largest listed companies, the proportion of women at the first and second levels below the executive board is on average 22 percent, according to the study.

The proportion is particularly high at 31 percent in the pharmaceutical and medical sectors, followed by financial service providers (25 percent).

The fewest female candidates are therefore in the classic male domains of the IT industry (14 percent) and in mechanical engineering (11).

"The quota alone won't get us any further, we need a whole range of supportive measures," says BCG partner Marcus van der Vegte.

"If, for example, companies have to publish the proportion of women not only for the board of directors, but also for the first and second levels below, transparency increases."

Icon: The mirror

mik / dpa