HAMBURG — A few years ago, Kristin Dalkmann* would have made a completely different professional choice. She was determined to get a leadership position, to take the next step, make her own decisions and earn more money. The experienced project manager even enrolled in a development program designed for that purpose. But because there were no open leadership roles at her previous company, she moved to a consulting firm. When she was recently offered such a position there, she turned it down — and not because she had just given birth to her second child.
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At the moment, the German government keeps telling women: work more, ideally full-time. Be more confident and do what men do. Step into leadership roles. Just go for it. Yet in Germany the number of women in management positions is the same as it was 10 years ago, and significantly lower than in many other countries.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, roughly 1.32 million men and 540,000 women held leadership positions last year in Germany. That represents a share of 29.1%, unchanged for a decade. The European average is 35.2%. In this ranking, Germany lands in 22nd place out of 27. Sweden, Latvia, and Poland lead the field. Hungary, Bulgaria, and Estonia also perform better.
Why is that? Do women in Germany not want to lead, or are they unable to? What is holding them back?
Work-Life equation
At 40, Dalkmann practices what is known as shared care at home. She and her husband divide all tasks evenly, from brushing their child’s teeth to business trips. Before her current parental leave, she started work at 7 a.m.. Her husband took their son to daycare, and she picked him up at 3 p.m. when it closed. “I was often the one at the playground squeezing in a quick work call,” she says. “In the evenings, I sometimes opened my laptop again.”
When her husband had to travel for work, Dalkmann took on more at home. If she flew to a client for several days, which happened twice a month, it was his turn. She is now on seven months of parental leave, and he will take the same amount next. “Although that did not go down well at his company,” Dalkmann says.
Because their daily routine, while functional, is very tightly scheduled, and because they do not have grandparents nearby, Dalkmann was obliged to ask herself: can we take on even more? “It would have been difficult, of course, if there had suddenly been afternoon meetings,” she says. “And I do not want to put my children in front of the television.”
“And I was not willing to take on all that added stress for that.”
But she still felt capable of taking the leadership role, and could have continued working 35 hours a week. At least on paper. “But they offered me only an extra 300 euros,” she says. “And I was not willing to take on all that added stress for that.”
As a manager, Dalkmann would have kept her own targets and clients. She also would have had to bring in new clients for her team to keep everyone fully booked. This would have taken a great deal of time. “Otherwise the bonuses would have been small and the employees would have been unhappy,” Dalkmann says. “I would only have worked that hard for a lot more money, rather than a few hundred euros.”
How much will this decision put pressure on my family life? Will I still be able to handle all my roles? Can I deal with people? Resolve conflicts? Dalkmann knows many executives and sees how critically women think about these questions. So does she. And men. They often do not. “They usually see it as a career step,” Dalkmann says. But she doubts that this is truly how the best leaders operate.
In Sweden, family time comes first
When couples become parents, something tends to happen. Most women reduce their working hours to care for the child. They constantly have to anticipate the child’s needs and solve problems. They may not want to add that to their workday when they already feel tired and worn out, so they initially avoid leadership roles. Fathers, on the other hand, keep their full-time week, sometimes even taking on more hours and responsibilities, spending their energy at work. For Wiebke Ankersen, this is where the problem begins.
She is the managing director of the German Swedish Allbright Foundation, which advocates for equal career opportunities. “In Germany, women still work less than they could because they believe a full time job is incompatible with a stable family life,” she says.
Yet if they work part-time, their chances of reaching a management position drop sharply. None of this is inevitable. In other countries, working conditions for women, especially mothers, are far better than in Germany.
One example Ankersen knows well from her work is Sweden. “There, society promises that even managers are allowed to spend time with their families.” CEOs do not have to be available around the clock. They can pick up their children from kindergarten or school in the afternoon, have dinner with them, and spend the long summer holidays in a vacation home.
Those without children can use their time differently. Private life is highly valued there. “That is why Swedish women step into leadership positions just as readily and with as little hesitation as men,” Ankersen says.
The latest study by the Allbright Foundation confirms that women still have little influence at the top levels of German companies. According to the study, the proportion remains stuck at 20%. Between September 1, 2024, and September 1, 2025, a total of 101 people were newly appointed to the executive boards of German companies. Only 20 of them were women. This means the share of women among newly appointed board members has dropped from 37 to 20% in two years.
Policy keeping up traditions
Germany performs poorly in a country comparison. The Allbright study examined the share of women on the boards of the 40 largest companies in Germany, France, Great Britain, Poland, and the United States. With just under 26%, Germany ranks second to last. Only Poland has a lower percentage. In Great Britain and France, almost one in three board members is a woman.
The gap becomes even clearer when looking at the number of companies with at least two women on their boards. In Germany, this applies to just under half of the 40 largest companies. In France, the figure is 85%, and in Great Britain, 90%.
For Wiebke Ankersen, this also stems from political conditions. “In Germany, it is still rewarded when the man pursues a career and the woman earns a bit on the side with a part time job,” she says. Couples could, of course, switch roles. But studies show that this traditional division has hardly changed for many families since the 1950s. The German state reinforces this arrangement by keeping joint taxation for married couples and by failing to involve fathers more actively in parental leave, Ankersen argues.
Childcare conditions in daycare centers also remain poor. Many centers have too few staff. During cold and flu season, parents regularly hear: “Unfortunately, we have to close early today. Someone else is out sick. Please keep your child at home if possible.” In some regions, families pay hundreds of euros each month for daycare and still need an expensive babysitter or au pair if both partners want to work full time. Most couples choose not to, and almost always the woman reduces her hours.
No chance
But there are also women, mothers, who want leadership roles and simply are not given the chance. One of them is Anne Kurek*, 36, who has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Six years ago, she began working for a well known German corporation in which very few women hold management positions. A year later, she told her supervisor that this was exactly the direction she wanted to pursue. What do I need to get there. What do I have to do.
She was told she was still too inexperienced, so she earned an MBA. After that, her boss nominated her for an internal talent program, but top management rejected her. “No one explains to me what other criteria I am supposed to fulfill,” Kurek says. She therefore believes it is not only about overtime and skills, but also about connections. “I notice that the men in the company often go out to eat together or meet after work. If I did that, rumors would start immediately.”
She is not the only one pointing to another obstacle women face besides motherhood. “Many women know how important meetings with their bosses can be, but they fear it will be misinterpreted,” says Karin Heinzl, founder of the women’s network MentorMe. Many key conversations take place in restaurants or bars. “But a woman meeting her boss for a glass of wine after work. For many, that leaves a bad taste,” she says.
That these networks among men exist was even confirmed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the annual conference of the Women Leaders initiative in July. When filling top positions, he said in his speech, decisions are not always made solely “based on actual performance and actual competence.” Other factors also play a part, “and not infrequently, these factors favor men and disadvantage women.”
According to Merz, when women “hit the glass ceiling,” it is often due to a combination of reasons, including “a lack of role models, male dominated networks and cliques, inflexible working hours, and stereotypes that still linger in our minds.” Assertiveness, competence, and decisiveness are leadership qualities still viewed as masculine traits, “despite all the evidence to the contrary.”
Start the conversation
Network founder Karin Heinzl urges women to cultivate these typical leadership qualities. In her view, the traits Merz mentioned are neither inherently male nor female, but simply essential in many leadership situations. Women should hesitate less and not fear coming across as too assertive. When a position is advertised, it is usually the case that a woman who meets nine out of ten criteria holds back. A man with fewer will still apply. Her advice. Just try it when the opportunity comes.
That also means confidently highlighting your own achievements without embarrassment. “Women think their work alone speaks for itself. That is not true. They need to point out their accomplishments in conversations,” Heinzl says.
This is especially important with supervisors, who ultimately decide who gets promoted and when. If you do not want to have a glass of wine with your boss in the evening, you can meet for lunch in the cafeteria, for breakfast in a café, or at the coffee machine, Heinzl says. “The main thing is to get the conversation going.”
Kristin Dalkmann can imagine taking on a management position someday, as long as she is offered more than just 300 euros a month. The position she turned down has since been given to a man.
