Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/146925 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Citation: 
[Journal:] DIW Economic Bulletin [ISSN:] 2192-7219 [Volume:] 6 [Issue:] 37 [Publisher:] Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW) [Place:] Berlin [Year:] 2016 [Pages:] 449-459
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
Women remain grossly underrepresented in management positions in Germany. However, what has been dubbed the gender leadership gap, i.e., the difference between the share of all employees who are women and the share of women in senior management positions, varies considerably across different industries. The present report shows that the largest gender gap in the likelihood of holding a senior management position is to be found in the financial sector. Possible explanations include an exceptionally masculine culture and the specific legal requirements of CEOs in the financial sector that are implicitly biased toward men. Furthermore part-time work generally has an adverse effect on women's career prospects: for many management positions, being able to work full-time is a prerequisite that often excludes women from taking on these positions due to the traditional division of household and family labor. Policy-makers and the business community should therefore adopt measures to increase gender equality when it comes to working hours. The 'family working-time benefits model' and improvements in the quality of child day care proposed by DIW Berlin would be steps in the right direction.
Subjects: 
gender
gender leadership gap
managerial positions
promotion probability
Executive Committees (ExCos)
glass ceiling
working hours
motherhood penalty
financial sector
BaFin
corporate culture
temporal flexibility
JEL: 
G2
J16
J78
L32
M14
M51
Document Type: 
Article

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