Towards a Higher Quota of Women in Executive Positions

When it comes to female representation at the executive level, Germany has lagged behind other nations. At least one woman must sit on the boards of German companies with more than three directors.

According to The Global Herald, "In the US, 97% of the country's top companies have at least two women on their boards. It's 87% in France, but in Germany, it's well below 13%."

Attempts have emerged to change this, but a system of voluntary commitments towards gender equality has not yielded results. The source also reports that the proportion of female managers on German companies' boards decreased in 2020.

Following an impulse from the Minister for Family and Women, Franziska Giffey, the German government plans to force public companies to have at least one woman on their boards.

One person who knows what it is like to be a woman in a superior position is Janina Kugel. She served on the Siemens AG board as the company's chief human resources officer before joining the Boston Consulting Group last year. She has been an active and vocal advocate for this new gender quota.

Although Germany has had a female chancellor, Angela Merkel, the country remains very conservative for the past 15 years when it comes to role model behavior and what men and women should do. As a consequence, this has had an impact on the professional lives of women in Germany.

For the past two decades, companies across the country have been talking about a self-commitment to bring more women to boards and executive positions. This goal has failed dramatically in recent years.

However, Germany improved but still lags. Women and men can do the job equally well.

Some conservative party representations are not yet in favor because they believe it influences the public and private sectors. However, the initiative is a crucial step, and a sign that change can happen.

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There are enough women capable of filling executive positions without companies failing. It will be a push in the right direction.

Countries like France, the US, and Sweden could change the role model behaviors. In that case, Germany will also see an impact not only on men and women but also on other social representations.

After the German government announced that the law would be published, very few in the business world economy complained about it. It was more of a debate going on in politics.

The country also hopes to increase the parental allowance to stay home to get some money from the state.

According to Forbes, this bill would reach 73 companies, of which 32 do not have women in their senior positions. In Germany, there is already a female quota for boards of directors. Of the 2,000 employees, 30 percent of this management body's positions must be held by women.