“I grew up in a family with two daughters and two sons. My father, who was my role model, wanted to provide equal opportunities for all of his children,” said Eileen Wilkinson, regional Vice President of Shell for Exploration and Production in Middle East & North Africa, during the meeting with representatives from the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria in Sofia.

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Ing. Boryana Manolova, Chairwoman of the Council of Women and CEO of Siemens Bulgaria, presented the Council’s initiatives and activities, including the upcoming Global Women Leaders’ Forum, co-organized with UNESCO. She highlighted that the organization works actively to encourage women to take on leadership positions and to progress in their professional development.

Mrs Wilkinson congratulated the Council of Women for the high professionalism in all of their activities. She briefly discussed the milestones in her career in large major oil and exploration companies and she shared best practices from Shell in the field of the further empowerment of women. “Almost 20 percent of the leadership positions in the company are currently occupied by women, but this is not enough,” said Mrs. Wilkinson. It argued that the employment in the Shell ratio between men and women at the beginning of their career is about 50/50, but at higher levels in the hierarchy it is changing in favor of men.

Mrs Wilkinson shared information about the initiatives of the company, which is in the field of equal opportunities for both sexes, including mentoring and leadership programs, and various benefits such as flexible working hours, support for returning to work after childbirth in the family and others. “Equal pay for equal work is the basis of equality,” she said. According to Mrs. Wilkinson the social attitudes regarding gender roles should be changed, which should start in schools and universities. She shared her successful experience in this regard, and said that at a time her husband took care of their little daughter while she continued to work. “Dialogue is important to find the right decision for the whole family,” she said.

Regarding the idea of introducing gender quotas, Mrs. Wilkinson noted that their goal should not be simply to meet certain targets for the percentage of women in leadership positions, and to provide equal opportunities for both sexes. “For some companies it is obtained naturally, others need stimulus in the form of a legal framework, for example in relation to equal pay,” she added.