A conference on “Women in Public Administration” was held today at the House of Europe. The event was organized by the Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria and the “More Women in Politics” NGO with the aim to initiate a public discussion on the topic of women in public administration and the opportunities for development, including the promotion of women’s participation in politics, diplomacy, security and other areas that are key to state-building.
“The leadership of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences welcomes the initiative to launch a public discussion on career development opportunities for women,” Assoc. Prof. Mariana Tien who is the Scientific Secretary of BAS in the “Man and Society” division highlighted. On behalf of the President of the Academy, Corr. Memb. Evelina Slavcheva, she read a congratulatory address to the participants and the organizers of the initiative.
Currently, there are nearly 3.5 million women in Bulgaria, representing about 52% of the Bulgarian population. Despite the fact that there are more women with higher education than men, there is still a gender pay gap and as far as the positions held are concerned, just over a third of the leadership positions in our country are held by women, the address noted. By contrast, women represent half of our country’s scientists and engineers, ranking us third in the EU. In this respect, the contribution of ‘women’ to the advancement of science and society is undeniable, it added.
Assoc. Prof. Tien stressed that recently the role of women not only in the leadership of the Academy but also in the individual research institutes had increased significantly and recalled that for the first time in the history of the Academy a woman was elected as President.
Yordanka Chobanova, Head of the European Commission Representation in Bulgaria, opened the conference. Mariya Gabriel, President of the Robert Schuman Institute, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco, H.E. Mrs. Zakia El Midaoui, representatives of the governmental and non-governmental sectors and the media presented interesting data and shared best practices in their speeches related to the role of women.
