In AT and DE, a remarkable observation can be made when looking at the gender split in the professions of architecture and civil engineering: More than 50% of all study beginners in architecture are female but only 20% of women ultimately practice their chosen profession; in the profession of chartered engineering consultancy (which architects can become after several years work experience and by undergoing additional VET programmes) the rate drops once again to 5-10% being women. This reflects the overall poor gender quality situation in some European countries whereas others are doing fine: Whilst AT and DE are at the bottom amongst EU Member States, ES and FR are in the upper third of the rankings and SI even sits at the top of the class. Certainly, the gender split is strongly determined by macro-structural factors, however, as we know from ES, FR and SI, intensive engagement at the policy level as well as offering VET programmes and guidance concepts specifically dedicated to women’s needs and demands foster their full participation in working life. Therefore, the project seeks to achieve the following aims and objectives: • The issue of poor gender equality in the profession of chartered engineering consultancy is much less known, therefore it will raise general awareness towards this topic amongst the main target groups and stakeholders (women studying/working in architecture and civil engineering; architecture and civil engineering offices; chambers and professional associations of relevance, HE/VET providers; policy makers). • Identification and collection of relevant features, frameworks and indicators which promote or hinder the proportion of women within the profession of chartered engineering consultancy in the different partner countries. • Selection of best practice results from each country and their transfer to and testing in other partner countries (e.g. professional coaching and continuing VET offers for women, support for personal development activities etc.). • Development and sustainable application of a valid and reliable measuring job tracking system which allows for documenting the careers of both, men and women, to identify similarities and differences; based on the required data, education providers, chambers and job coaches can develop better tailor-made training and consulting programmes to overcome the existing gender split. • Setting-up a sustainable thematic network of different experts, target groups and stakeholders that share their expertise, know-how and experience from different countries and learning/working cultures. The partnership develops two main tangible results: • The 4 IN 1 COMPENDIUM containing four parts: A) the NATIONAL COUNTRY REPORTS give an insight into gender-related situations and frameworks in each partner country and allow for relevant indicators and examples of best practice; B) in the BEST PRACTICE COLLECTION 20 examples of VET programmes and job coaching are introduced which are likely to prepare women better for specific challenges in the male-dominated environment of civil engineering; C) the CAREER TRACKER ANALYSIS gives an overview of findings when piloting the career tracking system (see below), including recommendations and lessons learnt for improvements D) the STRATEGY AND POLICY PAPER provides an overall summary of the project outcomes and requests appropriate actions from regional, national and EU policy makers to make gender equality in Europe a reality. • With the CAREER TRACKER, the partnership creates the first ever job tracking system for chartered engineering consultants. This online tool allows the continuous collection of information and feedback on how graduates start their working life, what kind of gender-based discrimination they are exposed to and whether or not they are sufficiently prepared with the skills needed to perform well in their job, especially if one is woman. Based on this data, VET and job consulting programmes can be better customised to women’s needs and demands; they also allow policy makers to improve their ambitions in realising gender equality. The partnership represents the national chambers of chartered engineering consultants from AT, DE and SI, the gender equality group of the Technical Univ. of Valencia/ES, the gender VET expert ARVHA from FR, and lastly the dissemination, QM and measuring tool development expert OXYS from DE. Short-term impact is achieved by raising general awareness, sharing knowhow and best practice examples between countries and upskilling VET and job consulting experts in chambers and business associations; medium-term impact is achieved by upskilling women through innovative training and consultancy programmes to tackle better gender-related challenges in the workplace; through the direct involvement of policy makers at different levels in the project work, a changing of mindset will lead to changing policies, which again facilitate gender equality in Europe in the long-term.
Our main goal was to initiate a broad discussion about gender-specific discrimination in the field of architecture and civil engineering in which legally women have same gender equality rights - but practically are still far away from having not only the same rights but also the same opportunities, framework conditions, acceptance and remuneration in work as men. It was important for us to have a factual discussion based on empirical data in order to create a positive attitude and energy among the target groups and stakeholders at local, regional and European level to deal with this issue of discrimination in access to the labour market and to initiate measures to eliminate it without stereotyping it as "purely feminist motivated". Therefore, we presented methods and instruments that allow insight on relevant data, their backgrounds and interaction, which enriches education- and occupation-related gender research. From this, we are able to develop innovative education models for HE and VET and design a modern world of work, enabling the development of the EU to a modern and equal knowledge-based society. Last but not least, we wanted to provide a platform where all parties involved could interact and jointly develop.
The professional fields of architecture and civil engineering are clearly male-dominated and difficult to access for women for several reasons - one indicator for this is that in some countries more than 50% of first-year students in architecture are women, but of these only 50% are able or willing to fully pursue their profession; in addition, women in these professions often face various forms of direct or indirect gender discrimination, lower income, lower representation in chambers, lack of acceptance of professional performance, etc. This means that there was and is an urgent need to find methods and instruments as well as define frameworks to increase the number of women in the professions, to eliminate discriminatory working conditions and to better enable women to participate in the labour market with equal rights and opportunities. In order to achieve this and to be able to make appropriate recommendations for social, political and institutional frameworks for the future, it is imperative to collect and evaluate comprehensive data on the actual life and work circumstances of women and bring them together with their needs and expectations with regards to Europe's development into a modern and equal society.