Einflussfaktoren auf die Einstellung zur Frauenquote

Women still face social inequality in their professional lives: despite being highly educated and despite legislation ruling out unequal treatment, they are paid less than their male counterparts and they are underrepresented in leading positions. Consequently the implementation of a women's quota for larger companies has recently been the subject of much public debate in Germany, particularly as such a quota already exist in other European countries. But what are the factors that contribute towards a positive attitude for a women's quota? To answer this question more than 400 persons were interviewed in an online survey. Results showed that those in favour of a quota were most frequently: women, respondents with a progressive political orientation as well as those respondents who perceived unequal opportunities. Women with professional experience – compared to women without professional experience – were more in favor of a quota, whereas men with or without experience did not differ. Likewise, progressive and conservative women supported the women's quota, yet, political orientation was a critical influence on the attitude of men: Conservative men supported a quota less frequently than progressive men. For women, the perception of unequal opportunities more strongly influenced their positive attitude towards the quota.