Women's proportion in board members: a small progress, big challenges!

Women's proportion in board members: a small progress, big challenges!

In Austria there is still considerable need for action when it comes to equality for women in management positions. According to an analysis by EY, the proportion of women in the board of listed companies achieved a maximum value of 13.8 %in the summer of 2025, which corresponds to 26 out of a total of 189 board members. This value represents an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to the last survey in January. Since the start of the EY Mixed Leadership Barometer in 2015, the proportion of women has more than tripled, but remains low in international comparison. It is particularly alarming that 57 % of the board teams still consist exclusively of men, and there is currently no woman as a CEO of a listed company in Austria; Radka Thotehring resigned as CEO of CPI Europe AG in the summer of 2025.

The distribution of the leaders can be said that the majority are active in financial or operational areas, typically as CFO or COO. The proportion of women on supervisory boards is 31.5 % and has stagnated since the statutory minimum quota of 30 %. Currently, eight companies only have male -occupied supervisory boards, while some barely scratch the quota up on the upper limit. In order to counteract this, a new law, the corporate law management position law (ERLEIPOG), stipulates that at least one woman and one man must be represented in board members with more than two members. A 40 percent rate should apply to supervisory boards regardless of the size of the committee. This law has been under assessment since February 2025 and must be implemented by companies by June 2026. Helen Pelzmann from Ey emphasizes that quota regulations are important, but cannot represent the only solution; Further measures in business, politics and society are also required to actually promote equality.

The DAX and the women's shares

A look at the situation in Germany also shows how complex the topic is. In December 2024, the proportion of women in the DAX companies' board was 25.6 %. Of the 258 board members, 66 women were. However, only four DAX companies have female board chairman, which illustrates the challenges with which women are faced with corporate management. Representing progress in Germany, Belén Garijo (Merck Kgaa), Bettina Orlopp (Commerzbank), Karin Rådström (Daimler Truck) and Helen Giza (Fresenius Medical Care) are at the head of their companies.

The distribution in the DAX companies shows that companies such as Allianz and Commerzbank can perform more positively to their board teams with a proportion of women of 44.4 % or 50.0 %, while industries such as the automotive industry often lag behind. For example, Volkswagen is one of the final lights among the DAX companies with only 11.1 % female board members.

International comparison

The current situation in Austria and Germany illustrates a cross -border trend that shows that in many European countries the proportion of women in management positions is still far from real equality. While the proportion of women in board members of the DAX companies reach 25.6 %, as mentioned, it is only 13.8 % in Austria. This raises the question of what measures the companies have to take to overcome the existing gender clichés and to carry out more effective change towards a more balanced representation of men and women on management issues. The data make it clear that legislators and companies urgently have to devote themselves to a fundamental turn to promote equality in the area of ​​corporate management.