The project main objectives were to increase awareness of female students on the challenges and opportunities arising from the digital transformation of the economy and barriers constraining women’s digital empowerment, to support them to pursuit careers linked to the digital economy and self-employment in STEM and engineering; and to equip career counsellors to better guide young and starting new careers female students and women. Objective 1) connects to HE priority stimulating innovative learning and teaching practices as the project tackles the societal challenge of digital skills mismatch of female students through a MOOC to meet their digital learning needs and to support their careers in STEM. Objective 2) relates to teaching and skills development, with a CPD programme to train career counsellors with new methods and techniques and to encourage their training and exchange of good practices in new and innovative methods and tools. Both objectives connect with horizontal priority addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience, and capacity as the project promotes digital and entrepreneurial competences through the innovative use of digital teaching and learning materials and tools.
The spread of digital technologies is having a massive impact on the labour market and the type of skills needed in the economy and society, creating new challenges and opportunities for female empowerment and more equal participation in STEM labour markets and entrepreneurship where advanced digital skills are needed. However, women are still underrepresented in STEM jobs, particularly computer science, engineering, and ICT, that require advanced digital skills (She Figures 2021, EC). Considering the challenges and opportunities arising from the digital transformation of the economy and barriers constraining women’s digital empowerment, project partners' believe that this project should have been funded. The FUTURE WOMEN project thus aimed to stimulate innovative learning and teaching practices to increase awareness of female students on these challenges and opportunities and support them to pursue careers linked to digital economy jobs and self-employment, particularly in STEM fields of engineering and ICT. To achieve this, the project also equipped career counsellors to better guide female students through the digital economy labour market trends.