FidAR – Frauen in die Aufsichtsräte e. V.

Press Release Federal Minister for Women Paus: ‘The Leadership Positions Act has ushered in a new era.’ FidAR President Seng: ‘Breakthrough for equal participation came through legal pressure.’ Berlin, 29.04.2025: Never before have so many women been represented on the top boards of German companies. 10 years after the first Management Positions Act came into force on 1 May 2015, FidAR takes stock at today's FidAR-Forum 2025 at the DIHK headquarters in Berlin: the proportion of women on supervisory boards in the private sector is 37.5 percent (2015: 19.9 %) - in public companies it is 38.9 percent (2015: 24.1 %). The proportion of women on the management boards of listed companies has risen to 20.2 per cent (2015: 5 %) and to 31 per cent (2015: 13.1 %) in public companies. This is shown by a current evaluation of FidAR’s Women-on-Board-Index and the Public Women-on-Board-Index as at April 2025 for the FidAR Forum 2025. The decisive impetus provided by the so-called Act on Equal Participation of Men and Women in Management Positions (FüPoG) for more women in top-level committees in Germany was the 30 percent gender quota on the supervisory boards of listed and equally co-determined companies, the obligation to set targets for the proportion of women on executive boards, supervisory boards and at the highest management levels, and regulations to increase the proportion of women in management positions in public companies. With the FüPoG II, the minimum participation requirement for executive boards was added as a further pillar in 2022, and the regulations on target quotas were tightened. Federal Minister for Women Paus: ‘Legal quotas work’ ‘The Leadership Positions Act has been in force in Germany for ten years now, and it is now taking full effect: during this time, we have jointly succeeded in significantly increasing the proportion of women in top management positions of the German economy. The target of 30 per cent on the supervisory boards of around 100 large German companies has now been achieved – this is a real, measurable success! The federal government itself is setting a good example, and the proportion of women in management bodies in the private sector has also risen significantly. Monitoring ensures transparency regarding progress. The last ten years have shown that a legal framework and courageous commitment – such as that shown by FidAR – pay off,’ emphasised Federal Minister for Women Lisa Paus at the FidAR Forum. FidAR President Seng: ‘Equal participation is a driver for success’ "Ten years ago, the gender quota was the decisive breakthrough for equal participation in management positions in the economy. Without legal pressure, there had previously been virtually no progress. Equal participation has prevailed in those companies that fall under the statutory regulation, both in the private sector and in public sector. The quota also had an effect beyond the supervisory boards: while the listed companies almost doubled the proportion of women on their supervisory boards, the proportion of women on their management boards increased fourfold. So change is possible - but unfortunately so far only if pressure is exerted. Only if this pressure is maintained can we achieve equal representation on management boards in the medium term," explains the President of FidAR, Prof Dr Anja Seng. A look at the figures: The supervisory board quota makes the difference The proportion of women on both supervisory boards and management boards at companies that have been subject to the fixed quota on the supervisory board since 2015 has increased significantly more than at companies that are not subject to the statutory regulations. The growth rates increased again when FüPoG II came into force. In the private sector, the average proportion of women on the supervisory boards of the 179 companies currently listed on the DAX, MDAX and SDAX as well as those listed on the regulated market with parity codetermination has risen by a total of 17.6 percentage points to 37.5 per cent since 2015. The 100 companies currently subject to the supervisory board quota achieved a higher share of 38.6 per cent, an increase of 17.3 percentage points. The 79 companies not subject to the quota increased by 20.4 percentage points to 34.1 per cent. The differences are even more pronounced for management boards: the companies subject to the supervisory board quota achieved a peak value of 23.4 per cent (+18.5), while the companies not subject to the quota remained at just 14.8 per cent (+9.6). Overall, the proportion of women on management boards has quadrupled to 20.2 per cent (+15.2) in the 10 years since the introduction of the supervisory board quota. Anja Seng: "We need more binding rules for significantly more companies The track record of the statutory regulations speaks in favour of extending the fixed gender quotas to more companies. This is because only 100 companies are currently listed on the stock exchange and subject to co-determination on a parity basis and are subject to the supervisory board quota - the minimum participation requirement on the management board only applies to 61 private sector companies and 43 federal shareholdings. 'The joy over the success of the legal requirements is dimmed by their limited scope. We should extend this effective lever to companies that are listed on the stock exchange or have more than 500 employees. This would also include significantly more private companies as well as public holdings of the federal government, the states and the municipalities. Regardless of the tightening of the laws, women in leadership positions should be the norm. As a society, we cannot afford to allow the German economy to fall further behind in terms of equal participation in international comparison,’ said FidAR President Seng. The FidAR-Forum is one of the largest conferences for equal participation in management positions in the German economy. The event is sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. The detailed study on FidAR's Women-on-Board-Index 185 from July 2024 and the current figures for the WoB-Index as of April 2025 can be found at www.wob-index.de (in German). The Women-on-Board Index currently analyses 179 companies listed on the DAX, MDAX and SDAX as well as those listed on the Regulated Market with parity co-determination. The study on FidAR's Public Women-on-Board Index from October 2024 can be viewed at www.public-wob-index.de (in German). It analyses 261 shareholdings of the federal and state governments. Your contact persons Prof Dr Anja Seng, President of FidAR - Frauen in die Aufsichtsräte e. V., Berlin
Phone: +49 (30) 887 14 47 19, e-mail: anja.seng@fidar.de Press contact Matthias Struwe | Eye Communications | Agency for Press and Public Relations
Phone: +49 (7 61) 137 62-21, e-mail: m.struwe@eyecommunications.de About FidAR: FidAR - Frauen in die Aufsichtsräte e. V. is a non-partisan and supra-regional initiative founded in 2006 by women in management positions in business, science and politics. FidAR aims to achieve a sustainable increase in the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of German companies and to improve corporate governance and culture. The aim of the initiative, which is supported by over 1,450 women and men, is to achieve equal representation in all management positions in the German economy. FidAR pursues these goals in close dialogue with business, politics, science and in cooperation with the relevant business and women's associations. More information about FidAR is available on the Internet at www.fidar.de.