WISE: Women in Social Enterprise Development
Erasmus+
2018 - 2020
Project webpage: http://www.wised.eu
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Project Bio
Today, the economic, social and technological developments lead women take more active roles in labour market in the world. Although women constitute half of the population in the world, they are nor represented in labour market at the same rate and this is a serious loss in terms of human resources.
According to Entrepreneurship Analytical report 2014 of European Commission, only 12% of EU citizens have entrepreneurship activities and only 39% of this rate constitute women. (European Commission Entrepreneurship in the EU and beyond- Flash EB No 283 – Entrepreneurship Analytical report).
Increasing the visibility of role models for women business owners: Role models have an important role to play in inspiring women and demonstrating that entrepreneurship is a viable career option. These role models must represent the diversity of the business community, including small businesses, and be relevant to a range of sectors and businesses. WISED project giving the chances to women entering the business life through education/training.
Project Objectives
As a result of the activities within the WISED project, the output should be evaluated not only regarding the acquisitions of the targeted groups but also in terms of the effect it will have on the society and economy and training level.
The expected results are categorized in 3 terms
1. Short term (training level); Raised awareness Communication in SE, Learning SE dimension, startup, management, administration, etc, Social and civic competences in SE context, SE initiative and entrepreneurship, Social awareness and expression in SE, Ethical values, sustainable development and good governance. ICT competences developed.
2. Medium term action level: increased attainment rates in life long learning process, increased awareness about gender equality in business life, Will gain perspectives from women employers, training organizations and relevant post-secondary administrators on transversal skills and social enterprises knowledge and practices.
3. Long term (employment and socio-economy level): SMEs are an integral part of the economic lifeline of most countries around the world. They are a major source of ideas and employment and they both sustain and stimulate the growth of national economies. (Schlogl,2004) Although, They reinvest their financial returns into the community to further their social purpose, to create employment and/or other economic and social benefits for marginalized communities. Therefore, By the WISED, The number of women in social Enterprise will increase and this will contribute to social and economic welfare of the country.
Short-term Staff Training
The training event presented a prime opportunity to expand the knowledge base of all participants, allowing them to strengthen those skills that are aimed in the WISED blended learning course. Before the training itself, we developed a process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and attitude that are needed in order to teach a trainer how to train well, considering that a learning by doing approach is best. Each organization benefited directly from that participation, giving the possibility to enhance team building/leadership and enrich knowledge in the field of teaching transversal skills. All partners agreed that trainers should have been trained both in the subject they teach and how to teach it, taking into account that knowledge and expertise in a subject are not enough to ensure the training is effective.
The training approach has been based on blending Coaching (supervising closely but seeking input/ideas from participants) with Supporting (describing and demonstrating the tasks, observing and providing help when participants encounter difficulties) and Delegating (providing help when asked by the participants).
The training program brought all participants to a higher level so they all have similar skills and knowledge in the field of teaching transversal skills.
The WISED blended learning course contains 7 different modules, each of them created by one of the participating partners:
- Communication in Social Enterprise
- Social Enterprises Dimension
- Social and Civic Competences
- SE initiative and Entrepreneurship
- Social awareness and Solidarity
- Ethical Values and Sustainable Development
- SE in a Media World
All of these modules were presented and explained by their designers and then evaluated by the training event participants in order to direct the designers towards their best usability among women in social enteprirses.
Main project outputs
WISED TRANSVERSAL SKILLS RESEARCH (WTSR)
Research will provide an analysis on how the selected 6 modules/transversal skills are represented in the work-field, aimed to rank them on the importance, relevance, existence of available trainings and trainers for women employees, etc. The purpose of this research is to gain perspectives from women employers, training organizations and relevant post-secondary administrators on transversal skills and social enterprises knowledge and practices, asking them questions about the importance of transversal skills, specific transversal skills priorities and transversal skills deficiencies. The major findings will help trainers involved in the WISED project to improve understanding of the essential needs in developing the blended learning WISED training program in direct relation with the European women workforce development system.
TRAINING MATERIAL for WISED
The training Material - Manual of WISED - Woman in Social Enterprises Development Transversal Skills (theories, structures of the social enterprises and on transversal skills, key concepts, approaches, examples, best practices and experiments, glossary, index of online materials for more reading, etc.).
The manual ensures consistency in the presentation of the training program. All the training information on skills, processes, and other information necessary to complete the training are together in one place. The manual is a self-paced guide: designed for trainees/learners to work through on their own.
The manual has been designed considering the following criteria:
- content: topics, tasks, procedures and other information arranged in a logical sequence and broken down into small units
- audience: reading skills, learning background
- how will be used (during, afterword’s, as a reference).
Project outputs will be available as an open source in February 2021.