Corporate Germany needs change: an outsider's testimonial

A French national with a long experience as CFO of internationally listed companies, I was quite disturbed when I moved to Germany and discovered a situation for women in Corporate Germany that I consider worse than it was in France when I started my professional life more than 25 years ago.

Friends had warned in advance that the business environment was not as women-friendly as in France. They also explained the mindset behind the Rabenmutter stereotype, one that does not exist anywhere else in the world aside from Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. So I was prepared to face some issues, but frankly I did not expect that it would be such a challenge.

I came to Germany as Finanzvorstand responsible for Finance and HR of a company employing 500 people across Germany. I made the move with my three children and my partner who at the time had most of his business in France.

The first thing that struck me was the young women at the office who looked at me with wide eyes, continually asking how I could manage both a senior executive role and family, all this in a new country. I felt like an alien, an exception, this had never been the case in France where I was always surrounded by successful business women who were also raising a family.

Also astounding was when some of my colleagues came to me and asked me to ensure that the young mothers who were currently in maternity leave would not return to work after their “Mutterschutz” time. I found this unethical and my answer was always “they have a job with us and I will make sure they can come back to this job”. Most shocking in a country that prides itself on respecting rules was when I learned that these tactics to remove mothers from their jobs are common practice.

I started to feel the pressure building because I was always the only women in large management meetings, I was the only Mom at school who could not accept appointments with teachers in the middle of the day, and when I met headhunters they kept asking me private questions on how I was managing my family life, instead of being interested in my professional achievements.

This is why I decided to take action and join PWN Global (www.pwnglobal.net) an international women’s network to start a new chapter in Munich. Back in France I had never really felt the need for this, but here in Germany I could see the necessity for raising awareness and building support groups to drive change. This is why I became a feminist in Germany.

I have spent a great deal of time considering the differences between France and Germany, why is Germany so backwards compared to France. Of course there are the obvious reasons like the childcare and the school system, as well as family policies. It is interesting to see that East Germany had a very different approach, with a real gender balance in higher education and at work. I find it sad that after the reunification, West Germany did not adopt this best practice from East Germany.

I have observed how efficient and well organized Germans are, so if there are still not enough places for young children in kindergarten, I believe it is not a lack of planning; it is a mindset which slows down the change. I am still wondering where this mindset comes from. One reason could be that after the war and with the Wirtschaftswunder life was just so good in Germany that families did not need a double income, so the success stereotype for men was “my job, my house, my car and my beautiful wife”. Fortunately times are changing; there are now young German fathers who want to take their paternity leave, thereby courageously standing up for the family in spite of stereotypes.

Change is necessary and it has to accelerate in Germany. Germany cannot remain the laggard of the developed countries ranking in gender diversity at the bottom of the list with Japan. Christine Lagarde, IMF chief and former French minister of Economy linked recently the economic stagnation of Japan in the last 10 years with their lack of diversity. According to IMF the GDP per capita of Japan could grow by 4% if their female labour participation rate were to reach the G7 average. This is serious food for thought for Germany.

To conclude I would like to stress that the best change agents will be the German men, who are proud of the success of their partners/wives, because they understand it will make the professional world a better place, not only for women, but for themselves, their families and society at large.

Anne Frisch - November 2014