MAIN AIM The project’s main aim, coherently with the horizontal main priority, was to increase the inclusion of women in education and training courses in order to promote their access to the labor market, improve the quality of their career and reduce the gender gap in the labor market regarding both the employment and the payment level The OBJECTIVES were: - to promote and spread among women a concept of career that focuses on passions, talents, desires, inspirations and ambition - to improve the access of women to quality and innovative education, - to increase the competences of adult educators in professional coaching and one2one support of women professional development - to share good practices on women employability and career development - to improve the overall quality of the work carried out by the partners and by other adult education organisations - to support other organisations in implementing new tools to support gender equality - to promote an holistic approach in adult education, that take care of the whole person and of their needs - to support the use of digital tools for learning
Despite significant progress in gender equality over the past decades, the gender gap in Europe remains a critical issue. The Global Gender Gap Report (2023) shows that Europe has closed only 76.3% of it’s overall gender gap, with one of the largest disparities being in economic participation. Women are still under-represented in leadership roles and entrepreneurial activities, a gap that widens with age, particularly for women over 45. The pandemic has exacerbated the gender gap in the labor market: in 2021, twice as many women lost their jobs in Europe as their male counterparts. The category with the lowest number of reentries into the labor market was that of women aged 45+, a group that also saw their professional roles downgraded (Eurofound, 2021). Against this backdrop, the RE-START project aligned with and upholds the “Inclusion and diversity strategy” enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights. Its aim was twofold: to promote innovative tools and methodologies to help women facing a lack of opportunities for entry or reentry into the labor market, to develop professionally and establish careers, and to support adult educators to improve their competences related to career coaching and guidance for women