Statistics: More Often Women at the Top of Saxony's Authorities - Saxony's public sector reaches gender parity in top leadership roles

In 2024, significantly more women held top leadership roles—or had a say in decision-making—in public authorities than a decade earlier. But what was the overall share of women working in the civil service?

By mid-2024, women occupied just over half of the senior executive positions in Saxony's public authorities, according to data from the State Statistical Office. As of June 30, 50.4 percent of the 5,150 employees in top leadership roles were women, serving as heads of agencies, their deputies, or department directors. In 2014, that figure had stood at just 44.9 percent.

More Women in Leadership, Fewer in the Workforce

The share of women also rose in mid-level management positions—such as heads of divisions, units, and policy advisors—climbing by 0.6 percentage points since 2014 to reach 66.9 percent. However, the overall proportion of women employed in Saxony's civil service slightly declined: as of the reporting date, 63.7 percent of the 215,155 public-sector employees were women, down from 65.5 percent a decade ago.

Since early 2024, Saxony's updated Gender Equality Act has been in force, aimed at modernizing and strengthening legal measures to promote women in the civil service. The Ministry of Social Affairs notes that while women now make up around 50 percent of top leadership roles in public authorities, many of these positions are concentrated in the education sector. In other fields, women remain underrepresented.