ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies and analyzes factors that account for the successful advancement of women to senior positions in the Civil Service of Bangladesh (BCS) and the measures such as quotas that have been taken to ensure the increased recruitment of women. It explores the reasons why women have not made as much progress as one would expect. The chapter argues that overall representation of women in the Civil Service has increased, the presence of women at the higher level positions is still low, which is indicative of the existence of certain barriers to the advancement of women. It uses the concepts of diversity and representative bureaucracy to discuss the presence and role of women in the bureaucracy. The chapter provides some preliminary observations on active representations, and also argues that increasing the participation of women until that participation is complemented by active representation.
