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Women
as Entrepreneurs
Prepared by Stockport College of Further and Higher Education,
United Kingdom
Introduction
In this article we would like to introduce the training course
“Developing Female Entrepreneurs”, which was developed during EC Socrates Grundtvig Learning Partnership Project (2003-2004) led by Stockport College and
including other partners based in Poland and Romania. This training course is a
good sample of promotion of gender equality within business sphere in which
women as Employers still have the lower positions then men. The situation is
more complicated for women re-turners to labour market. They are typically
excluded from the labour market as a result of range of cultural, social and
political barriers, as well as a lack of adequate skills. Further, many women
are facing multiple barriers to inclusion, for example as a result of domestic
violence, ethnicity or rural isolation. The developed training course covers the
needs of unemployed women seeking to return to work and considering the
possibility of establishing a small business as a way back into employment.
The rationale for this training course has already been identified within the
UK’s North West Regional Development Plan (2001) which recognised that, although
“attempts have been made over many years to encourage greater gender equality in
the workforce and in the expansion of economic opportunity… there remains a
significant distance to travel.”
Aim and objectives
The objectives of the
training course are to:
- Develop responses to assist the target group
overcome labour market barriers
- Develop a common training course customised
to local needs in each country
- Make the training programme available to
learners on-line
- Augment training with vocational advice and guidance
provisions
Target group
Women and more especially:
- victims of domestic
violence
- returners (e.g. women having young children and returning to work)
- people in isolated rural areas with poor access to employment networks
Topics and description
The course was designed in paper format initially and
covers the following units:
- How to be an ‘Owner Manager’ (what are the risks
involved)
- How to write a Business Plan (including how to access
micro-credit)
- Basic Marketing Skills (including how to present your
business)
- Introduction to People Management (recognising conflicts and
managing them)
- Motivation & Personal Development (how to motivate your
staff)
- Communication & Negotiation Skills (defending your interests)
- Introduction to Computing Skills
- Basic Bookkeeping Skills
- Legislative
Context to Starting a Business (separate in each country)
Training methods
Central to the training activities is its use of ICT and in particular ‘WebCT’
(the Virtual Learning Environment at Stockport College) which enable each
training module in each partner language, to be made available electronically
(via the internet) to learners either in the classroom, in community learning
locations, at their office, or within the comfort of their own homes. The
purpose of using WebCT is to enable learners to supplement their face-to-face
learning (using the traditional classroom-based approach) with further exercises
which could be completed at their own pace.
Due to the nature in which the programme has been designed (WebCT-based), it is
possible for women to complete the course in one short intensive period (e.g. 1
week) or to take longer and complete the units over, for example, 3 months.
Due to the flexibility offered by WebCT, it is also possible for women to learn
either as a group or on an individual basis, which has meant that women could
establish their business and then attend (or access) the training modules most
appropriate to their needs at the same time as running their day-to-day
activities.
Generally speaking, the main training methods are:
- Virtual Learning
Environment
- Enables learning at own pace
- Flexible learning hours
- Group or individual learning
Implementation The training modules have been developed and are ready for use
by learners within UK and within the partner countries (Poland and Romania).
Subject to funding becoming available through the Leonardo da Vinci programme,
it is intended that the scope and extent of the use of the training modules will
be broadened to include women in countries new to the partnership, such as
Sweden, the Czech Republic and Italy. The Joint Action Project (current)
includes Romania, Ireland, Poland, Estonia, Spain, Finland, UK.
Sources/references
You can obtain more information about this course by emailing
at: craig.browne@stockport.ac.uk or by visiting the web sites:
www.dfe.eu.com
(Website of the Project)
www.stockport.ac.uk (Stockport College)
www.cku.sopot.pl (Centre for Continuing Education in Sopot)
www.apfr.dnttm.ro
(Association for the Promotion of Women in Romania)
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