High-ranking women found wanting in Bremen: a disparity to address
In a comparison of city-states within Germany, Bremen has been found to lag behind in terms of gender equality in top management positions of public enterprises. This is primarily due to the absence of specific regulatory promotion and targeted intervention measures aimed at promoting gender equality in these roles.
During the same period, Berlin filled 33.3% of its top positions with female leaders, while Hamburg followed closely with 27.6%. In contrast, Bremen managed to fill only 12.5% of its top positions with women, with a staggering 87.5% going to men.
Bremen's situation contrasts sharply with other city-states, where mandates or voluntary targets drive female representation. Unlike Berlin and Hamburg, Bremen does not have formal mechanisms to encourage or enforce gender parity at the leadership level, leading to underrepresentation of women despite the general recognition of gender equality issues.
The city-state of Bremerhaven ranks even lower than Bremen in this comparison, with only 16.1% of top positions filled by women. Bremen, however, fares slightly better with a percentage of 26%, albeit still lower than Berlin and Hamburg.
The lack of formal gender equality measures in Bremen has led to a deterioration in its ranking in the federal comparison over the years 2024 and 2025. In the 2023 FIT-Public Management Study, Bremen had a higher percentage of women in top positions, but this has since declined, placing the city-state among the lowest in the federal comparison.
The State Women's Representative has expressed no surprise at this deterioration, given Bremen's status as one of the few federal states that still has no regulations promoting gender equality in the appointment of top management positions in public enterprises.
A potential solution could be the adoption of regulations similar to Paragraph 77a (2) of the GmbH Act at the federal level, which requires companies employing more than two positions in management to fill at least one of them with a woman. By introducing such a regulation, Bremen could take a significant step towards promoting gender equality in its public enterprises.
References:
- [Source 1]
- [Source 5]
- FIT-Public Management Study, Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen, July 2025.
Berlin, with a 33.3% representation of women in top positions, demonstrates a substantial contrast to Bremen, which has only 12.5% of its top positions filled by women in the same period. It appears that the lack of specific regulations promoting gender equality in Bremen, as seen in Berlin and Hamburg, contributes to this disparity.
The potential implementation of regulations similar to Paragraph 77a (2) of the GmbH Act could be a significant step for Bremen in promoting gender equality in its public enterprises, potentially reversing the trend seen in recent years.
