MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - The proportion of women representing shareholders on the supervisory boards of DAX-listed companies has declined for the second consecutive year. While the current round of annual general meetings saw only a marginal dip of 0.1 percentage points to 38.3%, according to an analysis by executive search firm Russell Reynolds, the share among newly elected representatives stands at 32% - the lowest level recorded this decade.
Until 2024, the female share had grown steadily for 15 years, rising from 7% to over 40%, but it is now trending downward for the second year running. One contributing factor may be that women tend to have shorter tenures on these boards. Looking at the length of service for members stepping down this year, women averaged only 5.4 years, compared to 9.5 years for their male counterparts.
'For the second year in a row, there has been no progress on what recently seemed a certain path toward parity - and this runs counter to the broader European trend,' says Jens-Thomas Pietralla of Russell Reynolds. Furthermore, the appointment of women to key power positions continues to lag significantly. 'Taken as a whole, this is not a positive development.'
Past inequality breeds new disparities
One reason may lie in historical imbalances: given the current economic uncertainty, candidates with prior experience as Chief Executive Officers are being prioritized, Pietralla notes. 'Since very few women headed DAX companies in the past, the pool of female candidates with this specific experience is inevitably much smaller, which puts women at a disadvantage.'
There is, however, slight progress at the very top of these boards. Since Sabrina Soussan assumed the chair at Continental a few days ago, five such boards are now led by women, according to the study. When Amparo Moraleda succeeds René Obermann as chair of the Airbus supervisory board in October 2026, that proportion is set to rise to 15%./ruc/DP/zb
