Overview

• The supervisory board appointed Palla this week to lead the rail group, making her the first woman to hold the top job after running DB Regio.
• Scholars cite evidence that women’s chances of being tapped for leadership rise from about 5% to 7.6% during crises, based on a study of 26,156 U.S. appointments from 2000 to 2016 where only 7.4% involved women.
• Researchers say the effect strengthens at highly visible companies and where leadership has historically been male, reflecting a bid to signal a break with the past.
• The AllBright Foundation argues crises often reinforce traditional male choices, noting women’s representation on DAX executive boards fell during 2020.
• Prior studies report shorter tenures for women appointed in crisis turnarounds, and the group Fidar suggests companies may pick women for restructurings because they are less tied to entrenched internal networks.