More than two years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world is still trying to address its consequences. To the challenges facing people nationally and internationally, more and more issues have been added – the war in Ukraine, the increasingly complex economic and political situation in Europe and the continuing climate change. Taking all this into account, the importance of gender equality in the economic sphere may seem to be receding. But the fact is it is as important as ever. According to a social survey from 2021, Bulgarians believe that the more women get involved in politics, the better the country will develop. International experts say that the more women in higher positions, the more the economy of a given country prospers. However, taking stock of the situation in view of the pandemic it seems women are the big economic victims of the day – with caring for children, the household and the widespread belief that they can give up their profession for the sake of their families much more easily all contributing to that. And though women in Europe have won the battle for their fundamental civil rights, the battle is still on for their careers, career opportunities and recognition.

“This issue is becoming more and more relevant in the modern world and, unfortunately, reality and statistics leave much to be desired,” says entrepreneur and business consultant Ivelina Atanasova-Genchev. She is herself manager of three companies and head of the Bulgarian branch of the world NGO Women in Tech. In her words, throughout the entire EU, only 15% of all companies were created by women, and globally – only 2% of the investments are made in female startups. These data, she says, explain just how important the mission of Women in Tech is in supporting entrepreneurship among girls and how important it is to integrate – and not just in words but in deeds – women in the economic and high-tech development of our societies.

“It is the ambition of Women in Tech to provide the tools that women need to develop their potential via technologies, via entrepreneurship and direct leadership development. So that if men do not give them a place at the table, they can be an equal partner and take their rightful place and become part of our societies’ economies.”

If we take a look at attitudes in Bulgaria we shall see that 20% of the population have a problem with having a woman as their boss. 38% of Bulgarians say they agree that it is more difficult for women in this country to have a career, while 34% believe that men are better professionals than women. These data from a survey conducted by Trend agency in 2021 can be explained with the deeply rooted patriarchal stereotypes in Bulgarian society. However, specialists say that these beliefs are changing with each successive generation. Yet from the outside, Bulgaria looks like a country with good career opportunities for women, especially in high tech and communications, indicates a current analysis by the digital marketing agency Reboot Online.

“I pay particular attention to female entrepreneurship not because of gender identity but because, as a society, we must understand and accept the fact that women do business in an entirely different way than men,” says Ivelina Atanasova-Genchev from Women in Tech. “For men the speed at which a startup company will grow is a very important factor, for women, however, the social significance and the social added value in the scale of the projects is what matters most. That is why I am saying that it is very important for men and women entrepreneurs to go hand in hand because together they can do big business.”

The world organization Women in Tech has the ambitious mission of helping 5 million women and girls all over the world embrace technologies by the year 2030. The latest big event to this end was a business forum organized in Paris at the beginning of June entitled HERoes Shaping tomorrow. Bulgaria was represented at the forum by Mila Encheva, IT project leader at a big Bulgarian company, who admits that the two days of the event have been a great inspiration for her and for the road she has chosen. “The little things we do every day to improve equality and “fair play” change the environment,” she believes.

“There must be equality for all, and let the best man/woman win,” Mila Encheva says in conclusion.

Interview by Lilia Goleminova, Radio Sofia-BNR.

Editing by Vessela Krasteva

Photos: pixabay, Facebook/womenintech.bg