Online study: Only five of the DAX 40 companies gender consistently

Germany is one of the few countries in the world that recognizes the so-called "third gender" in addition to the biological sexes of man and woman.

The identity card will then not say m or w, but an x. This also undoubtedly makes sense, since there are undoubtedly people whose biological sex cannot be classified as male or female, e.g. intersexual people. Intersexuals do not develop either of the two sexual characteristics. However, most of the time these people assign themselves more to one respective sex. This phenomenon of intersexuality occurs only in about every 5000th birth. 

The biological and the social gender

Now one distinguishes however also between the biological sex, the sex and the social sex, Gender, thus that, in which one sees itself as itself, independently of its biological sex characteristics. Common and recognized here, in addition to masculine and feminine, are further 58: e.g. genderqueer, gender variable, non-binary, transgender, pangender, XY-woman, butch, femme, drag, transvestite, cross-gender and many more. As a clearly defined man or woman, one can only marvel here, but not condemn or shake one's head. 

But now the question arises: Should we include all this gender in our language, and if so, how? This question is causing even leading politicians to despair. At COCO, we are seen as Content marketing agency often confronted with this question. There are several ways to include all genders in texts or mentions:

Constantly listing 60 genders is not acceptable for either the speaker or the listener. It was clear to everyone that a different language was needed. And that's when the chaos started. On the one hand, there is the possibility, for example on the train, to address people as Fahrer(-innen) and Fahrer(- Fahrer). In this case, it is written as driver(s), driver(s) or driver(s). Now with the 60 genders one writes Fahrer_innen, because the gap above the underscore symbolizes the place which the 58 further genders take. In the meantime, however, one often writes Fahrer*innen. The * stands for the same as _. The simplest and most descriptive method, however, is probably the generalization of the various designations. For example, drivers become drivers, or students become students.

Now we asked ourselves, how do the most important companies from the DAX 40 handle this challenge? Is the same strategy that can be found on social media being pursued here? Our amazing findings and information await you in the following study:

Table of contents

Key findings: The most important listed

Results in detail: Results in written form

Conspicuities: Tops and Flops

Company in detail:

Adidas: Clothing and sporting goods manufacturer

Alliance: Insurance partner

Airbus: Flight provider

BASF: Chemical Group

Bayer: Pharmaceutical and chemical group

BMW: Automobile manufacturer

Brenntag: Distribution of chemicals and ingredients

Continental: Automotive supplier

Covestro: Material manufacturer

Daimler: Automobile manufacturer

Delivery Hero: Online food ordering platform

Deutsche Bank: Credit institution

German Stock Exchange: Public limited company

Deutsche Post: Logistics and postal companies

Deutsche Telekom: Telecommunications company

Deutsche Wohnen: Housing company

E.ON: Energy Group

Fresenius: Medical technology and healthcare group

Fresenius Medical Care: Dialysis product supplier

HeidelbergCement: Building materials group

Hello Fresh: Offers "cooking boxes

Henkel Vz: Consumer goods manufacturer

Infineon: Semiconductor manufacturer

Linden: Industrial group

Merck: Chemical and pharmaceutical group

MTU Aero Engines: Aircraft engine manufacturer

Munich RE: Reinsurance Company

Porsche SE: Investment company at the stock exchange for Porsche

Puma: Sporting goods manufacturer

QIAGEN: Supplier of sample preparation and testing technologies

RWE: Energy supply group

SAP: Software Group

Sartorius: Pharmaceutical and laboratory suppliers

Siemens: Conglomerate with a focus on automation and digitization

Siemens Energy: Electrical and power engineering group

Siemens Healtheeniers: Parent company combining medical technology activities

Symrise: Supplier of fragrances and flavors

Volkswagen (VW) Vz.: Automobile manufacturer

Vonovia: Real estate group

Zalando: Online mail order company

Central results

• 95% of DAX companies gender with (m/f/d) in the job titles of their job advertisements (38 of 40)
• 17.5% use gender-neutral spelling when naming jobs (7 of 40).
• 57.5% gender in website texts in general (24 of 40)
• Only 5 of the 40 DAX companies gender comprehensively. (BASF, Delivery Hero, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post, Linde).
• MunichRE consistently does not gender.

Results in detail

After evaluating our online study, it is clear that the clear majority of the DAX40 companies surveyed at least pay attention to the correct (m/f/d) form in the job titles of their job advertisements. At 95%, this is nevertheless not all of the 40 companies. Although German law states that all job ads must be worded in a gender-neutral way from January 1, 2019, there are still companies in our 2021 list that have not yet adjusted their job ads. They are therefore in violation of §1 of the General Equal Treatment Act. This states that no applicant may be discriminated against on the basis of gender. In total, MunichRE and Puma are two companies that violate this law.

Only a fraction of DAX companies gender comprehensively in their job advertisements. To be precise, only 17.5% of all DAX companies consistently use gender-neutral spelling. And that is clearly too few.

57.5% additionally use gender-conscious spelling on the website, in body text, or throughout the homepage.

If we now take a look at the individual companies, we quickly see that differences must be made in the assessment here as well. It is true that the majority of companies that use the (m/f/d) form also use gender-neutral designations on their website. Nevertheless, it can be seen in about 34% that they have only taken care of the legally required form. This suggests that they are only using the opposite form to avoid the threat of a fine.

Of course, there are also exceptions where the correct form is not used, but the website or the job advertisements are counter-gendered. In the same way, there are companies where the job advertisements are counter-gendered, but the continuous text or (m/f/d) form is neglected.

If you combine the individual headings, there are only 5 companies (BASF, Delivery Hero, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post, Linde) that consistently use gender according to this online study. These companies use gender-neutral spelling both with the use of the (m/f/d) form and in the job descriptions as well as in the body texts of the website.

Anomalies

A notable handling can be found at Merck. Although Merck does not advertise its job offers in a gender-neutral manner, it does have the addition: "(all genders)" after each job offer. This is definitely the variant with the most comprehensive inclusion and cannot be found at any other company.

Also worth mentioning is Deutsche Telekom, which has included a small block of text at the end of each web page stating that Telekom basically addresses all genders and is therefore in the process of revising its texts. Of course, we have to rate what we have at the moment, which is why Telekom only scored two points.

Overall, there is only one Group that does not apply any form of gendering. This is the Munich Reinsurance Company.

Adidas

Our online study starts with Adidas. The famous brand with the three stripes, headquartered in Herzogenaurach, praises diversity and inclusion highly, but cannot quite keep this promise. If you only read the article on diversity once, you can very quickly see words like employees, colleagues, salespeople, etc. that could have been transformed into, for example, collaborators with minimal effort. No word conversion was used in the job advertisements either. However, many terms are also in English and thus phrased neutrally. The label (m/f/d) was used in the job advertisements.

Alliance

Let's continue with one of the largest insurance companies in the world. Allianz is very innovative and one of the pioneers in the areas of gendering and especially word conversion. On their website and in the body texts they address all genders with word conversions, such as Schüler:innen or Studierende. Unfortunately, they have not consistently followed through with this exemplary behavior. In the job ads and advertisements, one can discover the (m/f/d) form, but words such as "working student" are not further negated by.

Airbus

The world's largest aircraft manufacturer uses a rather clever way of gendering. Since the entire Airbus site is in English and there is only the neutral form in English, we were forced to give Airbus a yes on the question of gendering on the website. Also in the job advertisements mainly English terms as well as the (m/f/d) form were used. However, there are also German job advertisements and in these, attention was NOT paid to the gender-conform spelling. No points from our side.

BASF

The stock market-oriented chemical company BASF SE, headquartered in Ludwigshafen, is the first candidate in our study to receive full marks in all three categories. At the 110,000-employee company, diversity and equality are writ large. Even a glance at BASF's home page reveals word conversions such as "students" or "young professionals". Even if you look at the job advertisements, you will immediately recognize the consistent use of gender-conforming terms and the standard form (m/f/d). Full marks in every subject area!

Bayer

At the pharmaceutical and chemical company from Leverkusen, the topic of gendering is unfortunately not pursued as consistently as it should be. Although one can recognize occasional word conversions, the gender-compliant spelling was again completely forgotten in the next blog post. These irregularities mean that we cannot award points for either the spelling on the website or the job advertisements. Only the legally required variant (m/f/d) was used here. This gives the impression that it is only used because it is obligatory, but not because it is close to the company's heart. One point in the overall rating.

BMW

To our surprise, the Bavarian engine plants have not done so well on this topic. Although there is an extra tab for diversity, in which words such as employees are converted into Mitarbeiter:innen, this concept is unfortunately not carried through just as consistently on the website. The usual terms are used here, but these only include a certain number of people. The others are "literally" excluded. It is no different with the job advertisements. Although it is not a big effort to adapt the ads accordingly, only the (m/f/d) or in this case the (m/f/x) form is used. Unfortunately, this leads to only one point for the Bayer.

Brenntag

The umbrella company of the Brenntag Group, which is responsible for the distribution of chemicals, was only able to score points in one category. The prescribed form (m/f/d) is given in the job advertisements. However, there are no word conversions on the website or in the job ads. Not even the body text of the "Explore Variety" tab is correctly and conformably counter-gendered. Unfortunately, we can only award one out of three points here.

Continental

The next candidate on our list is the automotive supplier from Hanover, Continetal. The expectation here was very high, since one can recognize already with the first view on the web page a few short blog contributions, in which Genderkonforme spelling is to be found. However, if you take a closer look at the other contributions, you will quickly notice that this concept has unfortunately not been continued. Even if one discovers word formations such as Mitarbeiter:innen in a few blogs, these are not to be found in other articles or continuous texts. Due to this inconsistency, we could only award points in the category "Legally prescribed gendering" (meaning the use of the (m/f/d) form).

Covestro

The materials manufacturer based in Leverkusen compares quite favorably with previous companies. Throughout the website and in all continuous texts, there is talk of employees or students. Certain word formations, such as "students," can also be found. Unfortunately, this concept has not yet fully penetrated the job advertisements. Here you will only find the legally required form (m/f/d). With a minimum of effort, it would be possible to adapt the job ads by using different word formations so that everyone feels included. On the whole, a solid two points out of a possible three.

Daimler

The umbrella company of the Stuttgart-based automotive giant does have some texts under the "Diversity and Inclusion" tab in which female and male employees are mentioned, but this spelling does not address the remaining 58 genders. Unfortunately, this form of address is one of the few found on Daimler's homepage that does not address only one gender. On most of the website, and even in standout infographics, only forms such as students, employees, or graduates can be found. The job ads are labeled (m/f/d), but nothing more. This leaves the impression that only minimal effort was made here to make the page halfway gender-conform. The emphasis here is on halfway. In the end, this makes only one out of three points for Daimler.

Delivery Hero

The stock exchange company, which is responsible for a large number of online ordering portals, is one of the few companies on this list that received full points from us. Since the entire website is in English and therefore only gender-neutral terms are used, the distribution of points is debatable. The form (m/f/d) is nevertheless included in every job advertisement. Even if this handling may seem cheating to some, we can't do anything else here than distribute points in all categories.

German Bank

Deutsche Bank did surprisingly well in this study. Word conversions or changes can be found both on the homepage and in the job advertisements. For example, not only students but also female students are addressed. This principle is continuously continued up to the job advertisements. Here, the job titles are always given with the correct (m/f/d) form. Likewise, these designations always address several gender types. For example, it is no longer only the bank clerk who is sought but also the bank clerk's wife. Of course, this type of gendering does not also address various other genders, but this is also due to the individual terms used. Nevertheless, Deutsche Bank is very progressive in this area and therefore receives full points from us.

German stock exchange

This stock corporation, based in Frankfurt am Main, has a good approach to gendering on its website. On the homepage and the job page, words such as "Berufseinsteiger*in" can be found. The (m/f/d) form is also used in the job advertisements. Unfortunately, the job titles are not gendered. Many designations are English-language, however with German words, as for example "Werksstudent", only the masculine form is used. To convert these also still into a gender-conformal spelling would be only a small time expenditure. Regardless of whether it was ignored or simply forgotten, from our side we can only award two out of three points.

German Post

The largest German parcel delivery company, on the other hand, scored well on all 3 criteria. On the one hand, gender-neutral word formations such as Absolvent:in or Schüler:in can be found. On the other hand, neutral terms and even new word formations such as Kaufmann/frau (businessman/woman) can also be found in the job advertisements. Of course, the legal (m/f/d) form is also present here. Thanks to several contributions on equal rights, diversity and inclusion, Deutsche Post's website conveys the feeling that everyone is welcome here and that this topic is also a high priority in the company's philosophy. Full marks from our side.

German Telekom

Unfortunately, Europe's largest telecommunications company could only score one out of three points in our study. For one thing, the signposts in the job advertisements, for example, are only given in a gender form, not a gender-neutral one such as Schlüer:innen. With a few articles one can already recognize a gender-conform spelling, however the majority is in the masculine form. The job advertisements are normally provided with the (m/f/d) form, however word formations such as Elektroniker/in are not to be found. One point that definitely deserves praise, however, is a paragraph that can always be found at the end of every Telekom web page. This states that Telekom is in the process of updating all website texts to the gender-conform spelling. A good step in the right direction. Of course, such a project takes time, but in our study we have to evaluate what we have at the moment. That's why we can only award one out of three points.

German living

This Berlin housing company stood out a bit in our study because of its gender concept. Of course, here, too, attention is paid to the legally prescribed (m/f/d) form in the job advertisements. Even the special word conversion in job advertisements, which is used extremely rarely, is used continuously in job offers on the Deutsches Wohnen website. However, it is surprising why this principle is not also found in the continuous texts of the website. Due to this missing aspect, the housing company scores only two points in our study.

E.ON

Let's move on to the holding company of the German energy group E.ON, headquartered in Essen. Unfortunately, there is little to no gender-conscious spelling on this company website. There are a few articles on the topic of diversity, but a closer look reveals that they are rather sobering. On the entire site, only the masculine form is used for job titles. The job ads are also only marked with the (m/f/d) form if these jobs have locations in Germany. This gives the impression that attention is only paid to gender-conforming addresses when it is prescribed by the state. However, it should be noted that one can find isolated posts where the job title is adapted in a gender-conforming way. The majority, however, is in the masculine form, which is why we arrive at a result of only one point.

Fresenius

The Hessian medical technology and healthcare company takes a very exemplary and correct approach to the topic of gender and diversity. The entire homepage and all flow texts and signposts are consistently kept gender-neutral. Where possible, Fresenius has even used word conversions such as students. If it is not possible to find a new word for a particular term, Fresenius has simply added the gender-neutral form with a colon (student:innen). They have also tried to use neutral forms in job advertisements, but we could not find the required consistency here, which is why Fresenius was only able to score two out of three in our overall rating. However, it must be noted that Fresenius is definitely moving in the right direction with their concept and have almost reached their goal.

Fresenius Medicalcare

Fresenius SE's little brother, Fresenius Medicalcare, does things a little differently when it comes to equality and gendering. It is surprising that only the job advertisements use any form of gendering. All the rest, whether the homepage or the body text on the job page, is only in the masculine form. Compared to Fresenius, this company lags behind in the area of gender equality. Only the (m/f/d) form is stated correctly. Since this is also required by law, Fresenius definitely shows too little courage in this area. This leads to only one point in the ranking.

HeidelbergCement

The construction and raw materials company, headquartered in, as the name suggests, Heidelberg, tackles the issue of gendering quite well. On the careers page, you can immediately see word additions such as natural scientist. In general, the company gives the impression that this topic has a very high priority in the company. This also means that the impression is not given that "we only gender because we have to", as is the case with other companies on this list. Even if the word conversion has not yet fully arrived in the job advertisements, and only the (m/f/d) form is used here, HeidelbergCement is definitely moving in the right direction with its approach. Nevertheless, there is still a little room for improvement. On the whole, that's a solid two points.

HelloFresh

The stock market-oriented food company from Berlin advertises its diversity and the openness that prevails in the company. Surprisingly, HelloFresh only scored one out of two points in our ranking. On the homepage of the career page, you won't find any personal addresses to fellow employees or anything else. Overall, this concept comes across more like a kind of help not to have to gender. Thus, we could not distribute any points here. The job advertisements possess mostly an English designation, which is also a kind of the Gendern, the individual those German are however, only in the masculine form indicated. However, it should be noted that the (m/f/d) form was also consistently enforced, even for English-language designations.

Henkel Vz.

Henkel Vz. is a stock market-oriented consumer goods group in which diversity and equality are very important. The entire homepage and the career page are completely gender-conform. Even word conversions like Kaufmann:Frau can be found here. Unfortunately, a look at the job advertisements reveals that the gender principle has not yet arrived here. Although the prescribed (m/f/d) form is used, a neutral job title is not. Changes definitely still need to be made in this area. Overall, that makes two points for Henkel.

Infineon

Infineon Technologies AG from Neubiberg is also on the verge of transforming itself into a completely gender-conforming website. All continuous texts are correctly gendered with word conversions and certain word additions. The job ads all use the (m/f/d) form. The only aspect that we missed for the full score is that the few German terms in the job search section are not gender-conforming and neutral. Thus, our result: two out of three possible points.

Linde plc

The German industrial group with its current headquarters in Dublin passed our study in all areas. From the address in headlines to individual body texts, a gender-neutral address, e.g. students, can be found across the board. This concept is also applied continuously to the job advertisements. Here, attention is paid to the correct (m/f/d) form, but also constant word conversions in the job titles can be found. This is an important step in the right direction on Linde's part and also an exemplary handling of this issue. As a result, Linde plc is one of the few companies in our study that scored points in all categories.

Merck

The German pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck has used gender-neutral spelling throughout its body text and also on the rest of its website. Even though the job advertisements unfortunately have not yet updated the designations to be gender-conform, the column "(all genders)" is included behind every job offer. Although the (m/f/d) form is not used here, the "all genders - concept" appears very appealing and inclusive. Merck is the first company in our study to implement this concept. Since we unfortunately cannot award any extra points, Merck completed our test with two out of three points. Nevertheless, All genders deserves praise.

MTU Aero Enignes:

Munich-based MTU Aero Engines, which manufactures and maintains turbines, scored two out of three in our study. As usual, this group also uses the legal (m/f/d) form in the individual job advertisements. Word conversions are nevertheless not to be found here. However, if you take a look at the homepage and the start page of the careers site, things look different again. All flow texts are formulated gender-conformal exactly the same as the signposts or blocks to the individual occupational groups. Be it students or graduates, every word is presented in a completely neutral way. All in all, there is only one more small step missing for a completely gender-neutral website.

Munich RE

Munich Reinsurance Company is one of the problem children on our list. For one thing, you won't find gender-neutral body text on either the home page or the homepage. Not to mention the body texts. Whenever the website refers to certain groups of people, be it employees or students, only the masculine form is mentioned and addressed. Consequently, the job titles in job advertisements are also not converted. The point that surprised us the most is that even the (m/f/d) form is missing in the job offers. It is not a different kind of gendering, as we have already discovered in other companies, but simply none at all. This is not only morally and image-wise reprehensible, but also does not include all persons. These aspects result in our rating of zero points. Failed!

Porsche SE

The next candidate on our list is the holding company of the car manufacturer from Stuttgart. When you first click through the web pages and articles on the Porsche SE website, one thing is already clear: There is no gender bias here. But now this website also has an extra tab that deals with diversity, equal rights and the women's quota. One might think that they have certainly paid attention to gender-neutral or at least gender-compliant spelling here, but this is also far from the truth. You can probably already imagine how it works with the job advertisements. Neither word additions nor word conversions are to be found here. Only the legally prescribed (m/f/d) form was observed. One out of three points. A very sobering result for such a large company.

Puma

The textile manufacturer, also from Herzogenaurach, is one of the more specialized groups in our study. In continuous texts or blog posts, you can search in vain for gender-conformant spelling. Everywhere, only the masculine form is used and addressed. Even the legally prescribed (m/f/d) form is not to be found in the job advertisements. Of course, it should also be noted here that the majority of the jobs listed have an English-language title. However, this is no excuse for the missing gender form at the end of the title, which must be present in every job with a German location. What is unusual about Puma, however, is that the occasional German job title is completely and correctly gendered. With word conversions or additions. However, this is not enough for the full score, which is why we arrive at a final result of only one point.

QIAGEN

The provider of sample preparation and testing technologies, headquartered in Hilden near Düsseldorf, has been quite clever in dealing with the issue around gendering. The entire website is written in English, which makes gender-conformant spelling much easier, especially in continuous texts. Texts can be written here without much consideration of word conversions, since there are no articles or other in the English language. Thus, all nouns and designations are in the neuter tense. In the job advertisements, the (m/f/d) form is present and most jobs have an English designation. Nevertheless, German terms can be found occasionally. Here, however, only the masculine form is mentioned, although gender-conforming designations require minimal effort in this case. For this reason, the company only receives two out of three points in our ranking.

RWE

The energy supply company RWE AG. from Essen is one of the four largest energy suppliers in Germany. At times, the company was even considered the second largest utility in Germany. Equality plays a major role in this company. One finds many contributions to diversity and equal rights as well as an extra contribution to gender & gender orientation. All flow texts, contributions and even signposts are consistently written with the ":in" form. Unfortunately, this concept was not carried through to the job advertisements. Although one finds here the prescribed (m/f/d) form nevertheless job designations are written out only with the masculine form. In order to achieve the total score of three points in our study, this section still has to be changed to gender-conforming designations.

SAP:

The Walldorf-based software company SAP is the largest European provider of everything to do with software. SAP's homepage contains many contributions to the culture at SAP and to equality. One very noteworthy point is the consistent use of completely gender-neutral terms. For example, words such as employees are used on the homepage and in continuous texts, which are absolutely neutral towards each gender. Nevertheless, it must be noted that this concept has unfortunately been neglected in the job offers. Here, only the given (m/f/d) form is taken into account, gender-neutral designations are searched for in vain. Nevertheless, it would not be a big effort to revise the job advertisements after the homepage. Overall, two out of three points.

Sartorius Vz.

The pharmaceutical and laboratory supplier Sartorius, headquartered in Goettingen, Germany, was founded in 1870 by Florenz Sartorius. Even though this company is already one of the veterans in the pharmaceutical industry, they are very progressive in the area of equality and inclusion. The entire website, including signposts and headlines, has been kept consistently gender-neutral. In fact, completely neutral terms have been used as much as possible, such as "students." For other designations where this form is not possible, the "*innen" form was used. This completely neutral form was found in very few companies and therefore deserves a commendatory remark. Unfortunately, however, this form is not used in the job advertisements. Here the basic (m/f/d) form was used. All in all, this is still a solid two out of three points.

Siemens AG

Siemens AG is a conglomerate with a focus on automation and digitalization in the fields of industry, infrastructure, energy systems or medical technology. Here, too, care has been taken to handle this topic in a compliant manner throughout the website. It was even used the completely neutral word form depending on the occasion. For other terms, where this is not possible, the address was directed to e.g. "pupils". There are also a lot of contributions around the topic of diversity. It is all the more surprising that once again the job advertisements were disregarded. In the job advertisements, apart from the prescribed (m/f/d) form, only the masculine form of address was used. We therefore have to deduct one of the three points and arrive at a final score of two points.

Siemens Energy

Let's continue with Siemens Energy AG which is a company dealing with electrical and power engineering. Its portfolio includes power generation, power transmission as well as industrial solutions. Similar to Siemens AG, the spelling here is also gender-sensitive. Nevertheless, this topic was approached a little differently here. For example, when employees are mentioned on the website or in continuous text, both the feminine and masculine forms are used. (e.g. "female and male employees"). But this kind of gendering is not necessarily the best, because here, compared to the word conversion to a neutral designation, only two genders are addressed. The (m/f/d) form is also present here in the job ads, but word conversions are looked for in vain. Overall, then, two out of three points.

Siemens Healthineers

The Siemens companies are rounded off by Siemens Healthineers. Siemens Healthineers AG is the parent company under which the medical activities of Siemens AG are combined. The term Healthineers is composed here of the words "healthcare", "engineer" and pioneer. In continuous texts and headlines, the "*innen" form is always used, such as "Mitarbeiter*innen". The Healthineers website even has an extra post on LGBTQIA+, which simply states that everyone is welcome at this company. As usual, the job ads unfortunately do not pay attention to gender-conform spelling. Only the legal (m/f/d) form is used here. Actually one hopes after various contributions more in relation to this topic. On the whole, however, two out of three points.

Symrise

The stock market-oriented supplier of fragrances and flavors has its headquarters in Holzminden. Although the homepage advertises statistics and percentages of women and other information, the following aspects of the website leave the impression that diversity and inclusion are written rather small in this company: The first aspect is the flow texts, bulleted lists and signposts. In all texts that refer to specific groups of people, only the masculine form is addressed. For example, only the "graduate", the "student" or the "trainee" is always sought. The job advertisements do not improve this appearance either. Here, too, the address is directed only at male applicants. Although the (m/f/d) form is used here, since this is prescribed in such a way by the German law, this is not to be judged as a brilliant achievement. Due to the above-mentioned aspects, we arrive at a rating of only one point. Improvements are definitely needed here.

Volkswagen Vz.

"We stand for tolerance, openness and solidarity with one another. Xenophobia, hatred, exclusion and persecution have no place in our common company." In combination with the rainbow-colored VW logo . this sentence already gives a satisfying impression when you open the Volkswagen page. Volkswagen was about to become one of the candidates that received full marks in our study. All job ads have the "/in" suffix in addition to the (m/f/d) form. This form is also present in the designations of signposts for "students," for example. Although these points make VW almost a gender-neutral website, the total score cannot be awarded here due to the following aspects: Although gender-conforming designations can be found in isolated headings and text modules, most continuous texts are nevertheless written without this spelling. This inconsistent enforcement ultimately leads to the fact that we can only award two out of three points here.

Vonovia

Compared to VW, the Bochum-based real estate group is in a relatively poor position in terms of diversity and inclusion. One looks in vain for gender-appropriate addresses in information or continuous texts. Although a few attempts were made to create a gender-neutral atmosphere by addressing the feminine and masculine gender, we cannot include this in our evaluation due to the inconsistent handling. The job advertisements also address only the masculine clientele. By using the (m/f/d) form, an attempt was made to make up for all these points, but since this is required by law, we cannot include this with much credit. Overall, Vonovia scores only one point in our study.

Zalando

The online mail order company for shoes, clothing and cosmetics has its headquarters in Berlin. To our surprise, Zalando could only score two out of three. While Zalando always advertises the diversity of their company and also inclusive language, we were still only able to find this "inclusive language" in the body texts and signposts. In the job advertisements, an attempt was made to do justice to this by adding words with "*innen", but this principle was only carried out extremely inconsistently. Nevertheless, the entire texts are provided with the word addition "*innen". This leads to a final result of two points.