Are New Laws and Quotas the Answer to Seeing More Women in Boardrooms?

By SheSpeaksTeam Dec 15, 2013

Though more women are holding higher positions these days, when you actually look at the percentages there is still disparity between men and women at the top. The current list of women holding CEO position in Fortune 1000 companies is only around 4.5%.

Many would agree that seeing faster results of gender equality is important, but how to get there is a question yet to be answered. The Atlantic reports about Germany’s possible answer to the problem as they consider putting a quota in place for its companies.

A new agreement that has been made in the European country will require companies registered with the German stock exchange to have females representing at least 30% of their staff by the year 2016. Though government mandated quotas are often thought of as unconstitutional in the U.S., the tactic may be looking more enticing for those frustrated with the slow progress we’ve seen within corporations.

In the coming years all eyes will be on Germany to see if they have any success with their new agreement. Even though quotas may prove to be an unsuccessful answer to the problem, it is becoming more apparent that we need to do something here in the U.S where women make up only about 16% of board members.

Do you think Germany will see success with their quotas calling for a greater presence of women working for corporations?

What do you think the U.S. can do to see more women in higher positions?