Commitments to promote the participation of women in leadership positions at BASF SE

  • Minimum quota on Supervisory Board, target figures for Board of Executive Directors and top management

On April 24, 2015, the Law on Equal Participation of Women and Men in Leadership Positions in the Private and Public Sector came into force in Germany.

The supervisory board of a publicly listed European society (SE) that is composed of the same number of shareholder and employee representatives must, according to Section 17(2) of the SE Implementation Act, consist of at least 30% each of women and men. The Supervisory Board of BASF SE currently comprises three women and nine men. Two of the six shareholder representatives elected at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting are women. According to the legal stipulations of Section 17(2) SE Implementation Act, the minimum quota is not to be fulfilled immediately but rather upon any necessary reappointments, that is, new elections. In 2016, the employee-elected Supervisory Board member Wolfgang Daniel left the Supervisory Board. He is succeeded by Waldemar Helber, who joined the Supervisory Board without additional appointment, that is, without election, as the member personally chosen to replace Wolfgang Daniel as early as 2013 until the end of the 2019 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. In accordance with legal regulations, the legal minimum quota will therefore be reached after the next regular Supervisory Board election in 2019 at the latest.


As a target figure for the Board of Executive Directors, the Supervisory Board determined, in accordance with Section 111(5) AktG for the first target-attainment period after the law’s entry into force, that the Board of Executive Directors should have at least one female member. With eight members of the Board of Executive Directors, this represents 12.5%. Both at the time the target was set, and by the target-attainment deadline on December 31, 2016, the Board of Executive Directors contained one woman. The stipulation was therefore met.

In addition, the Board of Executive Directors decided on target figures for the percentage of women in the two management levels below the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE as per the legal requirements in Section 76(4) AktG: These were at 9.4% for the leadership level directly below the Board, and 11.8% for the level below that. This corresponded to the status at the time these target figures were determined.

On December 31, 2016, the deadline for attainment of these goals, the percentage of women in the first level of management under the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE was at 12.1%. The percentage of women in management one level below that was 7.3%.

We do not regard these deviations as meaningful, as BASF views the further development and promotion of women as a global duty independent of individual Group companies. We set ourselves ambitious goals for this and made further progress in 2016. The focus goes beyond gender quotas, and includes, for example, increasing international representation.

BASF will continue working on expanding the percentage of women in its leadership team. The company is carrying out, and constantly enhancing, worldwide measures to this effect.

By the end of the first target-attainment period, new target figures were set for BASF SE: The Supervisory Board determined as a target figure for the Board of Executive Directors that the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE should continue to have at least one female member. With eight current members of the Board of Executive Directors, this represents a proportion of 12.5%. The Board of Executive Directors also decided on target figures for the proportion of women in the two management levels below the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE: Women are to make up 12.1% of the leadership level directly below the Board, and the level below that is to comprise 7.3% women. This corresponds to the status at the time these target figures were determined. The deadline for achieving these new goals was set for December 31, 2021.