The share of women in senior jobs in Germany has risen to a record level near 28 percent but they are far more likely to hold responsibility at smaller firms, a federal study showed.

The exact result, 27.7 per cent, “has increased over the last few years,” the Destatis federal statistics office said in a statement, but remains “markedly smaller than the total share of female persons employed (45.6 per cent).”

In 1996, the number of woman in positions of responsibility stood at 21.8 per cent, Destatis noted.

Senior women executives are more likely to be found in smaller companies, as their percentage rose to 35 percent in those which employ fewer than 50 people, the study found.

Among the most senior positions in firms with more than 50 employees however, the percentage of women fell to 16.9 per cent.

The question of women executives has been widely debated in Germany, which lags behind other advanced economies.

A study by the DIW research institute published in March showed that women comprised only 3.2 per cent of the top managers in the 200 largest German firms.