• Analysis and Studies
• CRIF Study

The quota of women in management positions in Germany is currently 24.1 percent. This is shown by an evaluation published on the occasion of International Women's Day (March 8, 2022) by the information service provider CRIF of just under 2.5 million management positions in 1.2 million companies. In March 2021, the rate was slightly higher at 24.6 percent.

When talking about women's quotas, the eastern German states continue to play a pioneering role. Brandenburg leads the way with a 29.6 percent quota of women in management positions, followed by Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (27.9 percent each), Thuringia (26.4 percent) and Saxony-Anhalt (26.0 percent). Bremen (19.7 percent), Baden-Württemberg (22.3 percent) and Hamburg (22.9 percent) in particular have some catching up to do in terms of the proportion of women.

As the size of the company increases, the average proportion of women in top positions declines steadily and then rises again among large companies. While more than one in four executives in small companies with up to ten employees is a woman (27.6 percent), the proportion of female bosses drops to 12.3 percent in companies with 101 to 500 employees. At large companies with more than 10,000 employees, the proportion of women in management positions is 16.9 percent.

The female quota in companies behaves similarly with regard to the criterion of turnover. Companies with sales of less than one million euros have the highest proportion of women in management positions (25.9 percent). For companies with sales of more than 100 million euros, the proportion of women in management positions is 12.4 percent.

In terms of creditworthiness and solvency, on the other hand, women-led companies lead the field. The risk of insolvency is lower for companies with only women at decision-making level than for companies managed exclusively by men. Here, the proportion of financially weak companies is 7.3 percent. In contrast, the proportion of companies at risk of insolvency that are managed by men is 8.9 percent.

In addition, CRIF examined the companies in terms of the creditworthiness index and gender differences. For companies run by men, the average creditworthiness index is 2.55. With an average of 2.47, this is also lower for companies run by women, although a lower creditworthiness index predicts a lower probability of default and should therefore be interpreted more positively.

In the analysis of industries, healthcare delivers the highest value with a female ratio of 36.9 percent. However, women also occupy management positions with above-average frequency in retailing (26.2 percent) and publishing (24.4 percent). Meanwhile, there are few women in management positions in construction (9.7 percent), mechanical engineering (9.8 percent) and energy supply (11.2 percent).

On supervisory boards, women are severely underrepresented. While the proportion of women on supervisory boards is 19.4 percent, only just over one in ten supervisory board chairs is held by a woman (11.3 percent). Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (26.4 percent) and Brandenburg (25.2 percent) lead the way in terms of the proportion of women on supervisory boards. Saarland, on the other hand, reports the lowest proportion of female supervisory board members, with 17.1 percent. A detailed analysis of the positions held by supervisory board chairpersons shows that the proportion of women on this body is highest in Brandenburg (19.3 percent) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (18.5 percent). In Baden-Württemberg (8.4 percent), Lower Saxony (8.9 percent) and Bavaria (9.3 percent), the proportion of women at the top of the supervisory body is below 10 percent.

The picture is similar for the executive boards of stock corporations. The proportion of female executives on the boards is just 10.4 percent. Berlin is a pioneer here. The rate in the capital is 12.5 percent.

For the analysis, CRIF evaluated approximately 2.5 million management positions in 1.2 million companies (as of March 4, 2022). The positions are managing directors, supervisory board members and chairmen, managing partners, and board members and chairmen. Approximately 64,000 executive positions were analyzed for supervisory board members and just under 15,500 for supervisory board chairmen. In the analysis of executive board members in stock corporations, 15,900 positions in Germany were evaluated.