Our project aimed at improving the capacity and gender mainstreaming of entrepreneurial support structures to improve the quality of training and support women social entrepreneurs. By allowing support structures and their staff to better integrate women’s needs in their activities through a more gender sensitive approach, our project sought to encourage more women to develop sustainable entrepreneurial projects. In order to achieve this goal, three objectives: First, to increase the integration of gender at a structural level for entrepreneurial ecosystem structures. This has been done thanks to a method developed based on identified partners’ and ecosystems’ needs and the gender expertise of Women on Top, together with Empow’her. Second, to create tools, resources, and methodological and training content which fits women’s needs and to allow organizations supporting entrepreneurs to run tailored support programs, which has been done by Empow’Her, supported by Women on Top. Last, to create and disseminate the tools and methods created, as well as the identified good practices on gender mainstreaming and gender-sensitive entrepreneurial support to other structures at European and Mediterranean level to have a wide-reaching impact.
Numerous reports have highlighted the disparities in opportunities for women in entrepreneurship. This Erasmus+ project aimed to address this lack of inclusivity by directly impacting the organizations that support women entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurial support structures failed to adequately integrate gender equality considerations into their structures and programs. Additionally, organizations specializing in gender equality issues have not had the opportunity to share their expertise with a wider audience. This gap in communication and knowledge exchange calls for an Erasmus+ project in the field of VET education. Our project stemmed from a shared commitment among the partners to foster women's entrepreneurship in Europe by enhancing gender inclusivity in their practices. By bringing together diverse European organizations working with women social entrepreneurs and/or on gender-inclusion issues, we tend to make the entrepreneurial ecosystem more inclusive. Through the project's activities, partners formalized and exchanged good practices on gender inclusion at both organizational and program levels. This empowered them to integrate gender considerations into every aspect of their structure and activities.