SHE in EUROPE. Blended Learning and Founding

Background

EQUAL Project „Initiative.Women.Founding“

In large parts of Europe women are strongly underrepresented among company founders. Self-employment, however, especially offers women an important and further to be developed alternative to engage in the labor market. For this reason the EQUAL-Project „Initiative.Women.Founding“, completed in 2007, aimed at analyzing the demands and improving the consultation of potential foundresses.

A result of this effort is the software „The Self-Employed Woman. From Dream to Reality“. Apart from providing basic information it seves as a self-test which helps interested women to assess their aptitude for self-employment. Moreover, the software is suitable for being used in consultation and advanced training on the issue of founding.

The software has been developed with regards to contents and didactics for the needs and interests of women and has been tried in test groups. It is designed as an e-learning instrument, but should be preferably used in the context of blended learning courses, combining online private study with face-to-face teaching.

Target groups for the software are mainly career service and start-up centres as well as potential foundresses.

Objectives

Leonardo da Vinci Project „SHE in EUROPE“

„SHE in EUROPE“, as a transfer project, intends to pass down, to complete and to implement the knowledge developed in the EQUAL project „Initiative.Women.Founding“ to new transnational partner institutions.

Economic disadvantages of women within the European Union based on information deficits are to be balanced by knowledge transfer.

Intended Results

Blended and Distance Learning

	The translated and adapted Software “The Self- Employed Woman. From Dream to Reality” will be tested in seven countries.
	All course participants and interested users shall be able to access the software over the Internet, starting from a public website which also provides continuously updated information related to the software’s content.
	New products to be developed in the project “SHE in EUROPE” will be an information and exchange plattform “SHE HOME”, based on the findings from the blended learning courses, as well as an transnational distance learning course on „Web 2.0 for Foundresses”.

Duration: 01.01.2008- 31.12.2009

Funding: European Commission, Leonardo da Vinci Programme for Lifelong Learning