Dax and MDax: Fewer Women in the Boards - Germany's Top Firms See First Decline in Female Board Members in a Decade

For years, politicians have been pressuring Germany's largest companies to promote more women to executive roles. But in 2025, progress went into reverse.

Last year, gender parity in the boardrooms of Germany's 90 biggest listed companies took a step backward. Bucking a long-standing trend, the share of women on the executive boards of DAX and MDAX firms slightly declined in 2025, according to a study by executive search firm Russell Reynolds.

Wide Disparities Among Companies

In the DAX, women now hold 25.5 percent of board seats—a drop of 0.2 percentage points from the previous year. Four DAX corporations stand out as exceptions, with women making up over 50 percent of their executive boards: Beiersdorf, Merck, MTU, and Siemens Healthineers. At the bottom of the ranking, Porsche and Brenntag have no women on their boards at all.

A Decade of Progress Comes to a Halt

In the MDAX, the proportion of female top executives fell by 0.4 points to 19.5 percent, marking the end of a ten-year upward trend in which the share of women on the boards of major listed companies had steadily risen. The analysis also found that female executives disproportionately lead human resources—without overseeing operational business divisions.

Study Author: Gender Parity Still Not Achieved

Beyond Germany, the report shows that only Sweden saw a similar decline among nine European countries surveyed. Norway leads with a female board representation well above one-third. The DAX ranks sixth in terms of gender diversity, while the MDAX sits second-to-last, just ahead of Italy. "The international comparison, the distribution of power on executive boards, and the shorter tenure of women clearly show that structural gender equality in German boardrooms remains unachieved," said study author Jens-Thomas Pietralla.