Flexible targets for women in management positions: Clear east-west gap in transparency and level

Friedrichshafen. In order to promote the proportion of women in management positions, legislation obliges companies with more than 500 employees to set targets for the proportion of women at second and third management level and to report on them. Despite this, 38.3 percent of the public companies surveyed still do not publish any targets and fail to meet the statutory transparency targets. At 66.7 percent, eastern German public companies report more frequently than western German companies at 57.0 percent. These are the findings of a recent study by Zeppelin University (ZU).

The study published by Professor Dr. Ulf Papenfuß from the Chair of Public Management & Public Policy and his team of researchers analyzed not only the reporting, but also the level of the targets set for 193 public companies with more than 500 employees in the five largest cities in each federal state as well as at federal and state level. The overall average target level has risen slightly by 0.7 percentage points to 28.9 percent. There are substantial differences not only between but also within the same sector. Public companies in eastern Germany - including Berlin - set higher targets at 32.8 percent than those in western Germany - including Bremen and Hamburg - at 26.7 percent.

Companies are therefore a long way off the targets set by politicians. The authors therefore call for compliance with the requirements in order to ensure trust in the state and public institutions. "Targets are not fixed quotas, but allow for a situation-specific design. They are a high-potential governance innovation for personnel development, employer attractiveness and social sustainability and therefore not unnecessary bureaucracy. The responsible stakeholders must now act quickly to maintain credibility and trust in order to implement the requirements," explains Papenfuß.

The study was supported by AKDB - Anstalt für Kommunale Datenverarbeitung in Bayern and zfm - Zentrum für Management- und Personalberatung Edmund Mastiaux & Partner and accompanied the discussion of the topic in practice.

On Tuesday, November 25, a panel discussion will take place on the ZF Campus of the ZU in Fallenbrunnen from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the occasion of the publication of the study on the topic of "Equal opportunities in the leap into management positions - Which innovations really help?".

Further information and the complete study can be found at puma.zu.de