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Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - The proportion of women at the top of medium-sized companies is still well below the high of 2013, despite an increase.

According to data from the state development bank KfW, around 638,000 female managers ran a medium-sized company or were self-employed last year.

That was 25,000 more than in 2019. The proportion of women was 16.8 percent (previous year: 16.1 percent).

In 2013 it was 19.4 percent.

"Women are still underrepresented as heads of small and medium-sized companies, their number will only increase slightly in the Corona year 2020," said KfW chief economist Fritzi Köhler-Geib on Friday with a view to International Women's Day next Monday (March 8).

“The reluctance of women to set up a business, which has existed for years, is slowing down the growth of female business leaders,” explained the economist.

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In addition, there are the consequences of the corona crisis for so-called young self-employed who have only been on the market for a few years.

In a KfW survey, 36 percent of men but 45 percent of women said they had lost more than half of their sales since the outbreak of the Corona crisis.

Sectors with a high proportion of women, such as social services or the creative industry, are particularly affected by losses.

Economic sectors with a high proportion of men, such as self-employed IT workers, on the other hand, were reported to be significantly less affected.

According to KfW, the greater impact on young self-employed women from the crisis is likely to have a further dampening effect.

“It is unlikely that the management levels of medium-sized businesses will be more female in the foreseeable future,” said Koehler-Geib.

According to KfW, a positive impetus could come from the German government's agreement at the beginning of the year on a draft law for a quota for women in large companies.

At least one woman should sit on the executive boards of listed companies with equal co-determination and with more than three members.

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Study of women bosses in medium-sized businesses