Suchergebnisse

The present article examines the quality of life, its characteristics, and conditions of manifestation. Quality of life indicates the degree of well-being and satisfaction in individual and social terms. It relates to a set of factors representing well-being, physical condition, and health; material success and income; the social environment and contacts; emotional satisfaction; personal development. The article studies the professional community as one of the important prerequisites for quality of life because the profession and its related income, career, environment, and development opportunities a conditions for unfolding the objective and subjective dimensions of the quality of life in a personal and community plan. The professional community is also related to creating contacts and social capital, contributing to well-being. The analysis traces various types of inequalities that can reveal themselves in professional and social relationships and impact the quality of life. The article shows the activity environment as significant for the life characteristics of individuals and for their subjective evaluations and states, as well as for the perception of the quality of life as a complex variable measuring the status of individuals.

This article is aimed at presenting a series of activities and systematic efforts that have found a place in the development of a Plan for Gender Equality in Research and academia. This endeavor is part of SPEAR project "Supporting and Implementing Plans for Gender Equality in Academia and Research" under the EU Horizon 2020 Program: to develop specific approaches, activities, and measures systematized in Plans for gender equality to be implemented in the university environment, taking into account the specific national and regional characteristics of universities and structures. The SPEAR project involves universities and non-governmental organizations from 9 European countries: Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Croatia, Portugal, Lithuania, and Bulgaria (SWU "Neofit Rilski" and PU "P. Hilendarski"). The article reveals the purposeful actions of the team from SWU "N. Rilski" in the direction of creating such a plan, which refers to several structural and organizational aspects. As a basis for the development of the Plan, the article shows the results of a quantitative online survey, which presents attitudes and opinions on the topic of gender equality in social activities and research, as well as the results of in-depth interviews with the SWU deans' and rector's authorities under the topic of women's participation in management and research activities. The article shows the importance of gender equality as an opportunity for active participation in research and teaching of capable and proactive people.

This article presents an analysis of the impact of disasters on the quality of life of local communities. Its empirical basis is collected field material within the framework of a study conducted by the Institute for Еthnology and Folklore Studies with the Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences as part of the project "Local Disasters and Quality of Life: Cultural Strategies in Overcoming Natural, Technological and Biological Catastrophes", funded from National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science. The empirical data, on the basis of which the theoretical analysis is carried out, concern two natural disasters that occurred in Bulgaria - the earthquake in Pernik in 2012 and the flood in the Asparuhovo district in 2014. Research results show that the disaster affects, albeit to different degrees and in different ways, all components of the "quality of life" category, changing them at the moment or creating conditions for their later change. It has a powerful impact on the material and economic side of people's lives as the basis of their social well-being, which is entirely in a negative direction. Also negative is the impact of the disaster event on the affected person's physical and mental health, sense of security, tranquility, and mental balance. Unexpectedly, it turns out that disaster can also positively impact people's quality of life. This is most often in terms of their social connectedness and cohesion when the disaster event catalyzes social connections and support. Striving to restore the pre-disaster quality of life leads to social change that reflects the experience of survival through changes in local traditions and everyday life and the creation of new cultural memory and places of memory, thus building a new post-disaster model of social relations, accumulating gained experience and refracting it through the unique situation.

This paper examines the dimensions of social exclusion and the elements of self-perception of discrimination in access to public goods, employment, and in the media, which is juxtaposed with the priorities of the Bulgarian National Roma Integration Strategy (NRIS). The findings are based on the "National representative sociological survey for identifying and elaborating profiles of groups and communities most affected by the risk of discrimination, such as the Roma" carried out in 2017 by "BG ASSIST LTD" and a group of scientific researchers commissioned by the Commission for Protection against Discrimination in Bulgaria. The sample consists of 3,600 individuals aged 18 or over. The ethnic distribution of the respondents is as follows: 2,985 persons of Bulgarian ethnicity, 299 of Turkish ethnicity, 246 of Roma ethnicity, and 69 of another ethnicity. The paper shows the contrast between a variety of quality indicators and the priorities of the NRIS. Based on the data obtained, the risk of discrimination among the Roma and other ethnic groups in Bulgaria is tracked in a comparative manner in major public spheres. The survey results demonstrate that the most vulnerable people in the country are those without health insurance, residing in hard-to-reach settlements, low-qualified and unemployed individuals, people with disabilities, multi-member families and single parents; these categories indisputably include a solid share of Roma. Nevertheless, as the results show, not all Roma and arguably not only Roma are the most disadvantaged and marginalized individuals in Bulgarian society. This study's outcomes are related particularly to profiling the groups at risk, allowing critical linkages between the empirical data and ways of improving equal opportunities and non-discrimination policies. On the part of the NRIS, the paper calls for identifying adequate measures and a balanced approach to political engagement with the planning process in the coming years.

The main idea of the article is to show the importance of education as a factor in identifying the middle class. This means that people with middle class status are involved in various structures of society and they have reached prestigious positions respectively which, in turn, affect the extent of their inclusion in society. Middle-class representatives have complete and successful career realization, and they are signifiantly more inflential from a social point of view in comparison to other individuals which are less integrated and less successful following the public indicators of personal success: education, income, prestige and political power. The paper is primarily based on results obtained through the European Social Survey (ESS) under the 2006, 2009 and 2013 waves. Findings of the present paper are that quality education is not only a function of effort, ambition and persistence, but also of parental involvement, culture capital and family background. Educational achievements are a stimulus for middle-class expansion because they present investment in social contacts and competition on the labour market.

The main objective of this paper is to identify the issues, which have led to Roma exclusion from the mainstream education. The first part of the paper is focused on data, correlating unequal educational opportunities and the ethnicity factor. The text presents an insight into the widely argued Roma dropout phenomenon. Different sets of reasons for dropping out from school are being discussed, i.e. educational, ethnic and cultural, economic, and family reasons. In addition, the article reflects on the retrograde beliefs of the majority population as a prerequisite for Roma reluctance towards continuing education. Moreover, the article puts forward a review on the most recent key policy measures for equal educational opportunities, targeting the Roma. Various aspects of adopted policy interventions for stimulating educational inclusion are illustrated, and supplemented by a critical analysis. The authors conclude that the required strategic actions, targeting educational equity for marginalized social groups, such as the Roma, have been indeed formulated by the stakeholders; yet, certain shortcomings have been noticed and these are primarily linked to the practical implementation of the national documents into real actions.

This book analyses the changes, which the modern world has experienced in its communal, personal, institutional, and everyday aspects. It explores the characteristics of global thinking; ethical, axiological and religious dimensions of global consciousness; the challenges of COVID-19 and new forms of communication; and digitization and changes in social communities in the context of globalization. The volume shows that the problems of the modern world are complex and multilateral, caused by social crises, digital technologies, environmental threats, intercultural dialogue, and attitudes towards the Other.

The article is focused on mapping different policies and programs aimed at the elderly population, as well as the incentive for inclusion in these programs. The review of different policies aimed to achieve harmonization and complement the opportunities for the conducting of personal careers, and better quality of life. The consequences of population aging in Bulgarian conditions lead to various changes in the labor market. In this context the policies themselves aim not only to include elderly people in the labor market but also to ensure economic growth, thereby creating the prerequisites for social support and assistance. The overall vision of the article is to provide an overview of the political map in which the various institutional practices stimulate the elderly population to increase their education and qualification as one of the ways of active living. The article uses the results of a representative survey of the 55+ population regarding its participation in various forms of continuing education and qualification. Our understanding is that labor market participation has two important consequences for older people. On the one hand, it is related to the provision of material income and good living conditions, and on the other hand, it has positive consequences affecting the psychological confidence and self-confidence of the elderly that they are useful to society. All this in its entirety shows various aspects related to the quality of life of people in the third age.

The present article analyzes media socialization as one of the key factors for the formation of a digital society, involving the participation of individuals and communities. The objectives of the article are: to justify the impact of family educational institutions and community environments as contributing to the development of digital skills, attitudes and media literacy. The analysis is based on three rounds of European Social Survey (ESS) - national representative surveys carried out in 2006, 2009, 2012/2013, and 2012/2013 that analyzes the participation of the Bulgarian population in the social and political life of the country. In addition, the results of empirical studies conducted at the South-West University "N.Rilski", Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria for the period 2003-2017 are presented. The main conclusion of the article is that media socialization, based on media ecology information is important, because people acquire a clearer perspective as to how to evaluate a situation and to the increased opportunities for personal realization and development.

Subjective well-being is of paramount importance when support is offered to young individuals seeking employment and social inclusion in general. The present study looks at different dimensions of youth well-being and the growing demands for skills to enable labour market integration. Based on survey data, this article examines the relationships between the role of public employment services in providing support and their impact on the subjective well-being of youth. Specifically, 1,275 not in education, employment, or training (NEET) rural youths from Italy, Portugal, and Spain participated in the survey. Drawing upon Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model, the current study sets up a model which includes different factors at the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-system levels. The results show that non-urban NEETs' subjective well-being is associated positively with public employment services availability, while the relationship with public employment services interaction and public employment services support is non-significant. A positive and significant relationship emerged also with self-efficacy and social support. Some recommendations for policymakers are discussed.