Gender diversity in political consulting: Study shows need for action

The proportion of women in leadership positions in the public affairs industry is only 10 to 35%. This raises the question of what causes this low proportion and what experiences women generally have in political consulting. These topics are addressed in the annual industry study by de'ge'pol W, which was presented last week in Berlin. The study focuses primarily on the role of the “glass ceiling” in political consulting, i.e., the invisible barriers that prevent women from advancing in the professional hierarchy in the same way as men. Here, the researchers found that the women surveyed noticed this glass ceiling particularly in the form of difficult access to networks, stereotypes about public affairs work, and a lack of female role models in the industry. In addition, care work for their own families represents another career obstacle that women face. The second part of the study focuses on gender diversity in the public affairs industry and its impact on job satisfaction. Women consistently rated their career opportunities as lower and emphasized that their work tends to be more behind the scenes and less visible. Nevertheless, they were mostly satisfied with their industry. Regardless of overall satisfaction, the study uses several recommendations for action to highlight areas for improvement: First, the current state of gender diversity should be addressed transparently and a nationwide dialogue on the issue should be conducted. The authors also cite industry-internal networking and the promotion of role models and mentors as important factors. Last but not least, the relevance of further research is also emphasized.

We were also interested in the following topics:

• Mini-jobs: Employees in marginal employment often opt out of pension insurance, which means they are exposed to an insufficient pension amount in old age. That is why Rainer Schlegel, President of the Federal Social Court, is now arguing for the abolition of “mini-jobs,” writes Die Zeit.

• Skills shortage: Primary schools are currently experiencing a severe shortage of teachers – for now. New calculations by the Bertelsmann Foundation show that this situation is likely to reverse within the next ten years: by 2035, there are likely to be around 45,800 more fully trained primary school teachers than will be needed.

• Electrical and digital industry: More and more associations and lobby organizations are publicly taking a stand against right-wing extremism and the AfD. In addition to the BDA and the DGB, this now includes the president of the ZVEI, which represents the electrical and digital industry: Right-wing extremist parties, including the AfD, would damage Germany as a business location and its prosperity.

• AI in the workplace: Which jobs will be replaced by artificial intelligence in the future? A MIT study has made a new contribution to this discussion by analyzing the cost-effectiveness of AI use in various industries. It found that AI is currently still too expensive to replace human jobs in more than three-quarters of the jobs examined.

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