BERLIN (Reuters) – The share of women holding top management positions in Germany has barely increased in 18 years, according to a study by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) published on Tuesday.
Women held 28% of top management positions in 2022, an increase of only 3 percentage points from 2004 according to the study, which collects data from around 15,000 companies every year. This is far below the 44% share women hold in the overall workforce.
At the second highest tier of management, women represent 41% of the workforce, according to the study.
However, this proportion has not increased since 2016, it pointed out.
“The duration and flexibility of working hours as well as the personal life situation of potential managers are decisive for whether they advance to management positions,” said Susanne Kohaut, a research assistant at IAB.
Especially in financial and insurance services, men are mostly in charge, the study showed, with women holding only 16% of top positions and 32% of second-level management positions despite representing over half of the employees in the sector.
The study also highlighted that more and more businesses allow management to work part-time, namely 23% of private companies, 7 percentage points higher than in 2014.
Almost three quarters of all part-time leading roles in the private sector are held by women, IAB said.
“Employers’ willingness to enable managers to work part-time can represent a way, especially for people with care responsibilities, to master career advancement despite family commitments,” IAB expert Iris Moeller said.
(Reporting by Holger Hansen, Writing by Linda Pasquini, Editing by Miranda Murray, Alexandra Hudson)
