The federal government sets a good example in empowering women.
Last year, the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of state and state-affiliated companies rose by around two percentage points to 45.3 percent. This is shown by the progress report presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday by the Minister for Women, Susanne Raab and Minister for Economic Affairs Margarete Schramböck (both ÖVP). In 2020, 140 of the 309 supervisory board members sent by the federal government were women, in the previous year it was 123 of 284.
This means that 17 more supervisory board mandates were held by women in 2020. In addition, in the last reporting period 89 people were seconded or newly appointed by the federal government to 29 companies, 52 of whom were women – this corresponds to 58.4 percent.
The progress report also shows that in more than half of the state-affiliated companies the 40 percent proportion of women on supervisory boards is already being met. Compared to 2011, in which the federal government committed itself for the first time to gradually increasing the proportion of women on supervisory bodies, the number of companies that already have more than 40 percent women on their supervisory bodies has actually doubled.
“The current progress report shows that the federal government is setting a good example when it comes to empowering women. This is gratifying, because diversity in the personnel structure is a key driver of innovation. This applies not only to the private sector, but also to the federal government in particular Increasing the proportion of women on supervisory boards requires courage and initiative as well as good framework conditions and targeted measures that start directly with women, “emphasize Minister for Women Raab and Minister for Economic Affairs Schramböck.
The steady increase in the proportion of women on the supervisory boards of state-affiliated companies is an important signal for the visibility of women and represents an essential measure for the promotion of women's careers, continued Raab. Schramböck described it as essential “to support and encourage women on their way to the top so that they can enter management and supervisory board positions with confidence and ideally prepared”.
