In Europe, only 60% of women work in contrast to 76% of men, mainly because of gender segregation in the labour market. Moreover, more than a third of European working women have jobs which are generally paid less and are often part-time, such as care work, sales and cleaning jobs.Unemployed, low-qualified women and women in precarious employment are the most affected by this phenomenon, since they are guided towards jobs that they believe, or are led to believe, are appropriate to their skill set related to the domestic sphere.
This is where the Becoming a Woman Coder project came into play. Developed as a reaction to gender inequality in the labour market, “Becoming a Woman Coder” (BWC) was a 24-month project that spanned from September 2020 to August 2022 and was submitted as part of the Erasmus+ call Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education.
Aim of the project
The project aimed at creating an online training platform for professionals working in structured support networks. Therefore, employment support professionals would have the necessary tools and specific competencies to be able to guide women better when it comes to entering the ICT sector. These tools will increase specific awareness about skills needed for ICT jobs, as well as tackle gender stereotypes and specific stereotypes of these professions.
Target groups
Core: Professionals working in structured support networks to help find employment (in public and private bodies, foundations/associations, social services, etc.)
Educational: Training organisations for professionals working in structured support networks to help find employment
Secondary: Unemployed and/or low-qualified women and women in precarious employment companies in the ICT sector which are understaffed and looking for more women to enhance the gender diversity of their staff
The project partners
Outputs
1. A collection of testimonies which highlight the successful retraining in the coding profession of unemployed and/or low-qualified women and women in precarious employment. View the report study here.
2. An online personal training and coaching platform, divided into 3 sections to cater to different needs (Job counsellor; Woman; Training professional)
3. An Educational Cartoon to tackle clichés about coding jobs
4. A series of short career videos to show the coding profession in a different way, through the eyes of women coders that were unemployed and/or low-qualified women before becoming professional coders. Check them out on the BWC Youtube Channel or the BWC website
5. An e-Learning Module for employment professionals to help them guide women in programming and coding and provide them with useful everyday tools, consisting of:
- A document with convincing arguments
- Three informative games about the digital world
- Three mini-games that call on different soft skills and aptitudes needed for these professions
- An “Am I suited to coding” test
6. A Serious game presenting work situations to learn good practices to ensure the success in the retraining of women who want to become coder
7. Toolbox for recognition of specific competencies:
- a training guide
- an open badge when passing a final test
- an additional profile of the European Qualification Framework (EQF)
- a Letter of Intent
All resources can be found on our website: www.becomewomancoder.eu
At AcrossLimits, we participate in various Erasmus+ projects every year, contributing as technical partners creating digital online platforms, leading dissemination efforts, or providing our expertise in sustainability and exploitation activities.
Do you have a project idea which you would like to share with us? Contact us on [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]
In the meantime, you can check out our past and current projects here.
