Study Shows: New Appointments of Women to Executive Positions at Municipal Companies Have Dropped Drastically

Friedrichshafen. In terms of top management positions at municipal companies, there has been a sharp decline in the percentage of women newly appointed—from 30.7 to 23.9 percent—compared to the previous year. Cities in Baden-Württemberg rank in the middle of the pack at 25.9 percent. Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate have the highest rates of new appointments at 41.2 percent and 36.8 percent, respectively, while Lower Saxony and Hesse bring up the rear at 13.0 percent and 9.5 percent. This is one of the findings of the recent study “Women in Top Management Bodies of Public Companies—A Germany-Wide Comparison of Cities” by Zeppelin University (ZU).

Women remain significantly underrepresented in top management positions in Baden-Württemberg and nationwide. With a share of 24.3 percent, cities in Baden-Württemberg fill, on average, just under one in four top positions with a woman. This places them slightly above the national average of 23.4 percent.

Once again, the cities in the eastern German states have the highest proportion of women in top management (23.8 percent), whereas the average in the cities of the western German states (20.6 percent) is lower—though the East-West gap has narrowed by 2.4 percentage points compared to the previous year. While four of the 69 cities surveyed have at least 40 percent female representation, the proportion in twelve cities is below 10 percent, with four of those cities at 0 percent. Among the cities in Baden-Württemberg, Freiburg (37.0 percent), Mannheim (28.6 percent), and Karlsruhe (27.3 percent) are above the municipal average, while Stuttgart (19.2 percent) and Heidelberg (3.6 percent) continue to show below-average figures.

Only 24.6 percent of sole management positions are held by women. The chairperson role in multi-member governing bodies is held by a woman in only 5.3 percent of companies. Overall, the representation of women in the executive ranks of municipal companies is below the level of DAX-40 companies for the fourth consecutive year.

The authors, Professor Dr. Ulf Papenfuß and Dr. Christian Arno Schmidt from the Chair of Public Management & Public Policy at ZU, explain: “The massive decline in the proportion of women among new appointments warrants special discussion, as this is the lever for shaping the future. Integrated leadership development within the ‘City Group,’ precise recommendations in public corporate governance codes as an alternative to rigid legal requirements, and comparative analyses are central to sustainable public services and equitable appointments.”

Professor Dr. Ulf Papenfuß and his team re-examined the status quo of women’s representation in public enterprises in April 2026. The analysis included data from 69 cities, as well as from the federal and state governments, and 2,049 public enterprises with a total of 2,190 positions in executive management, leadership, and boards of directors at, among others, municipal utilities, public transit systems, hospitals, trade fairs, social service institutions, and IT and digitalization organizations.

The study is funded by the “zfm – Center for Management and Human Resources Consulting” in Bonn and the “AKDB – Institute for Municipal Data Processing in Bavaria,” which are also supporting practical discussions on the topic.

On Friday, July 17, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., a free online panel discussion will take place to mark the study’s publication.

The full study is available for download, and the registration link for the online panel discussion can be found at puma.zu.de