Centre for Civic Education (CCE) expresses concern that in the process of electing new full, associate and foreign members of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU), which will be completed at the CANU Assembly session on 23 December, there are elements of non-transparency and discrimination.
An insight into the documentation of candidates who applied for membership, which CANU submitted to the CCE following a request for free access to information, highlights the need for the public to be more thoroughly informed about the course and criteria of this process.
Article 1 of the Decision on Announcing the Elections for Associate, Full and Foreign Members of CANU, dated 23 December 2024, states that elections are to be called for nine associate members: three from the Department of Natural Sciences, two from the Department of Social Sciences, two from the Department of Humanities and two from the Department of Arts. However, the documentation clearly shows that in some departments fewer number of candidates received departmental support than envisaged by the call, and certain dissatisfaction with such an outcome was also recorded in the minutes of the sessions where decisions about candidates were made. In particular, the question arises as to why some qualified candidates were prevented from advancing to the next phase of this call.
Out of a total of ten candidates for associate membership, only three are women, all three from the Department of Humanities, which proposed five candidates, while a maximum of only two may be elected. These data are especiallyconcerning given that in one department the only female candidate, despite relevant and international references, did not receive enough votes, even though that department proposed only one candidate out of a possible two, namely a man with far more modest references.
The CCE points out that, according to information currently available on the CANU website, out of 29 full members as many as 27 are men, meaning that men make up 93% of CANU’s full membership. Out of eight associate members, seven are men and one is a woman, i.e., 87.5% of CANU’s associate membership are men.
The dramatic gender imbalance in the composition of CANU only indicates potential discrimination on the grounds of sex but also sends a discouraging message to female scientists and artists that their chances of one day becoming part of the highest national scientific institution are significantly lower compared to their male colleagues.
Montenegro, as a small country, must pay particular attention to the development and preservation of its human capital, especially in the fields of science and the arts. For some time now, CANU has been exposed to justified criticism due to its silence and passivity regarding important social processes, as well as for the questionable effectiveness of its work, which is funded from the State Budget. Therefore, it is of essential importance that the procedures for electing new members be fully transparent and based exclusively on professional and scientific merit.
On 21 November, CANU published a list of candidates to be decided upon at the 23 December session on its website; however, this was not accompanied by information on the selection process, nor by the biographies and scientific credentials of the candidates.
CANU is expected to be a role model for all state institutions when it comes to meritocracy, gender equality and respect for democratic values. Its role in Montenegrin society should also be emancipatory. Science and the arts must be spaces in which there is no place for discrimination on any grounds, and the process of electing CANU members must be public and transparent to dispel any doubts that preference is given to candidates on the basis of political, personal or friendly connections.
Sara Čabarkapa, Active Citizenship Programme Coordinator