Let women choose! – European partnership for the development of female entrepreneurship is a Erasmus+ KA204 – Strategic Partnerships for adult education project. ID Project: 2019-1-IT02-KA204-063142.
The project has a duration of 24 months and involves the following countries: Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Estonia and Lithuania.
Following a request for a three-month extension due to Covid-19, the project has a duration of 27 months and ends on January 1, 2022.
Context
In all EU countries, women’s labor market participation is lower than that of men. Women in the world of work tend to work less hours, work in low-paid sectors and occupy lower-ranking positions than men. These differences are due, to some extent, to the deep rooting of traditional gender roles.
The publication of the EC (2014) “Statistical Data on Women Entrepreneurs in Europe” illustrates the reported situation of female entrepreneurship in the EU. According to the EC report in the publication, there is a positive relationship between the level of female unemployment and the percentage of women entrepreneurs. In most cases the female enterprises are individual, therefore of micro and small dimensions. Unlike male entrepreneurs, women spend less hours a week in their own businesses, probably because they also have to take care of family management. The sectors in which women’s entrepreneurship is concentrated, concern the area of health and socially useful jobs and education, in tune with the stereotype that wants women focused on personal care. In general, women are on average more educated than men, but those who choose the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, are in a decidedly lower number than men.
In this context, women find it difficult to grow their business and stay on the market. In the worst case, they are forced to close.
Specific objective
The specific objective of the project is the inclusion of women in the world of work, through the creation, development and consolidation of women’s enterprises.
The target for which the project is aimed is represented by women aged between 40 and 55 who have had career breaks due, for example, to the need to take care of the family and have difficulty entering back into the world of work.
The project partnership is composed of qualified organizations with experience in supporting female entrepreneurs, from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania.
The project foresees:
– carry out a survey on a sample of experts (trainers, policy makers, representatives of trade associations and chambers of commerce, successful entrepreneurs, business consultants) with theaim of knowing the state of the art of the policies adopted and of the results achieved for the support of female entrepreneurship and to draw the ground and the ways in which to work to support their development;
– carry out a survey on a sample of women, in order to analyze the motivations that led them to do business, the difficulties faced, the repercussions in the family, the support offered by the social environment;
– implement 6 Expert Work Focus Groups, which will involve experts in training, policy makers, representatives of trade associations and chambers of commerce, successful entrepreneurs, business consultants;
– carry out an awareness campaign on: validity of female presence in sectors considered to be male domains; need to share family responsibilities;
– carry out a unified publication of the best practices collected: “Let the women choose! – Good practices to support female entrepreneurship”;
– implement n. 6 events dissemination of results and awareness of good practices collected.
Results
The project is expected to produce the following results:
– knowledge of the state of the art of female entrepreneurship support policies;
– knowledge of women’s needs (training, social, family);
– production of positive and lasting effects on the experts involved;
– establishment of relations and synergies that will allow to increase the awareness of the interested parties on the needs of female entrepreneurs;
– transfer of methodologies, tools and good practices, on the development and consolidation of women’s enterprises, development of entrepreneurial skills, strengthening of support systems for the creation and development of women’s enterprises, already tested in other contexts, which will accelerate the innovation process at the level of local;
– strengthening of entrepreneurial ecosystems supporting the development of women’s enterprises;
– renewal of the image of sectors currently identified as male domains;
– increased sharing of responsibilities between men and women.
In the long run, it is expected:
– greater cooperation between the experts and between them and the target group;
– improved sharing and exploitation of information among European regions on female entrepreneurship;
– increased dissemination of good practices for the inclusion of women in work focused on supporting entrepreneurship.
LET WOMEN CHOOSE! 