for 1997 a partial listing in the Official Gazette has revealed, though slightly more women have been recruited to serve due to efforts by women's groups to encourage females to get involved.

Of the 85 boards and committees recently made public, approximately 222 women have been called by Premier David Saul to serve; last year about 235 women were empanelled over 98 committees.

It is understood however the index published in the Bermuda Sun remains incomplete, with membership on boards such as the Treatment of Offenders Board, the Essential Industries Disputes Settlement Board, the Charities Commission, and the Bermuda Hospitals Board among thirteen not yet made known.

It is also possible some boards have simply outlived their usefulness or have been subsumed by other agencies, Cabinet Secretary Leo Mills yesterday told The Royal Gazette .

Such is the case of the Apprenticeship Training Council, which has since been replaced by the National Training Board.

Meanwhile acting Premier Jerome Dill said while the Premier attempted to make the process more inclusive, women continue to be held back by the "unfair double burden'' of family and career pressures.

"The reality of Bermuda, rightly or wrongly, is women are the ones who have to deal with family and a job. That's not how I'd like to see it frankly,'' he told The Royal Gazette . "I've spoken to a number of women who would love to assist but have a family and a job and feel it's just impossible.

"I guess any movement forward is to be applauded,'' said Angela Berry of the Women's Advisory Committee.

Nevertheless rough number crunching by WAC indicates women comprise only 33 percent of the 1997 appointments, up from 30 percent in 1996, she said.

Following a recruitment drive last summer to attract more women into the service, WAC tendered a list of 160 names to Government's sub-committee vetting potential candidates, said Ms Berry.

"I think Government and the individual ministers did make an effort to put in fresh faces, but we will continue to apply pressure until women, who are 50 percent of the electorate, hold 50 percent of the posts as well.'' WOMEN WOM