According to a report issued by consulting firm Ernst & Young, the number of female board members of listed firms in Germany reached a new high, with 94 out of 700 being women (EY). According to a research released on Friday, the number of female board members climbed by 20 in a year, bringing the total number of female board members in German corporations to 13.4%.

One in every two corporations listed in Germany still does not have a single woman on its executive board, down from 62% a year ago.  Only nine of the 160 companies polled had a female CEO. "German boards are getting increasingly female, but the transition is glacial," said Markus Heinen, director of EY Germany's people advisory services. "It would probably take decades if things were allowed to run their course before half of the board posts were filled by men and half by women."

The German government introduced an amendment to the country's management positions statute this summer with binding aims to attain equal rights in management in order to recruit more women into management roles in the private sector. According to the Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, listed firms and corporations with equal codetermination rights in Germany will be required to select at least one woman to the management board if the board has more than three members.

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