In this study, my co-authors and I show that the number of women on the management boards of large companies in Germany increased considerably during 2021. A new inclusion requirement for management boards contributed to this development. Comparing the gender quotas for boards in the European Union, we find that the German regulation, which consists of a gender quota for supervisory boards and an inclusion requirement for management boards, is very limited in its reach. Analysing data on the share of women on boards in EU countries, we find that gender quotas are an effective instrument for increasing women’s representation on boards.