Female Quota?

Female Quota?

I would like to know a few opinions regarding this issue. The quota I am talking about is not the simple percentage of women in a group but what in German is called Frauenquote - a quota that has to be reached due to regulation/law.

There may for example be the rule that on a board there should be no less than 20% women. If there are ten board members, that means two of them need to be women.

I do not think very highly of this measure, because it does not fix the original problem, and may actually lead to more trouble. I would prefer if a woman is not put into a position because it has to be filled with a woman, but because the woman qualifies for the position.

If there are ten men being more qualified, then let them handle things! The same, if there are five women with adequate qualifications, then let there be 50% women on the board. But if a gender quota has to be demanded by a rule, then the organisation will probably just pick the minimum necessary number of women, and probably some who do not make trouble instead of qualified ones.

So, while this measure looks good on the surface, I personally do not quite like it. Or has someone made positive experiences?