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Deutsche Telekom, HP and Airbus head the Women's Career Index

The headline in Horizont magazine reads "Can this be true?" Of all business enterprises, it is actually three technology companies, whose work traditionally focuses on areas dominated by men, that operate the most effective programs promoting women's interests! This is, at any rate, the conclusion drawn in the third study published by the Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, which declares the three companies the "best promoters of women's interests in Germany."

It quotes the women's promotion programs at HP (85), Deutsche Telekom (83) and Airbus (82) as being the most effective among the 128 participants in the study. They achieve an index rating of up to 85 of 100 possible points on the Women's Career Index (FKI), followed closely by other leading employers such as the Charité clinic in Berlin (81), SMA Solar Technology (80) and HypoVereinsbank (80).

The Women's Career Index was created by the Federal Ministry two years ago in order to objectively evaluate career opportunities for women in business enterprises in this country in an independent ranking. Questionnaires were used to measure individual company commitment. The goal was to make career opportunities for women in business transparent, as well as to identify and compare career openings for women.

Alongside more open structures and mixed corporate cultures, the companies with top FKI ratings show what is needed to prepare the ground for more women in management positions. "Top management must back this issue, launch concrete measures, install examples and treat the issue as a business case," Sylvia Tarves, owner of the HR consulting firm Leading Women, quotes Horizont magazine.

Deutsche Telekom is an uncontested frontrunner on the DAX 30 index and is already on the right track. Since introduction of a binding women's quota in 2010, the percentage of women holding management posts has improved from 19 to the current figure of 25.6 percent. The quota is flanked by a number of programs and measures, including the aspects of "Career with children" and Work&Live.

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