European Best Practice Gallery
Femme Forward
Fast-tracking women into new tech careers and supporting successful female-led start-ups
FUNDING PROGRAMME
Erasmus+
PROJECT NUMBER
ERASMUS-EDU-2022-PI-FORWARD
DURATION
01/01/2023 - 31/12/2024
COORDINATING ORGANISATION
SIMPLON.CO
PARTNER COUNTRIES
Coordinator: France
Partners: Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain
WEBSITE
www.femmeforward.eu
CONTACT PERSON
Ionela Rusu
ioana@simplonromania.org
PROJECT DESCRIPTION & BACKGROUND
Femme Forward was an Erasmus+ project focused on helping women start careers in technology or launch their own tech-related businesses. The project addressed the underrepresentation of women in digital jobs and entrepreneurship by providing high-quality training, practical learning opportunities and support across Europe.
The project particularly supported women facing barriers to employment and career development, including migrant and refugee women, career changers, young graduates from non-technical backgrounds and women returning to the labour market.
Through a European partnership, Femme Forward developed and tested digital education resources, training programmes and learning opportunities to help women build confidence, gain digital skills and access new career pathways in the tech sector.
TARGET GROUPS
Femme Forward worked with the following target groups:
• Women interested in starting a career in the technology sector.
• Women who wanted to change careers and develop new digital skills.
• Migrant and refugee women whose qualifications or previous experience were not recognised in the labour market.
• Young graduates from non-technical backgrounds interested in digital careers.
• Women returning to the labour market after a career break or maternity leave.
• Women with business ideas who wanted to create and grow tech-related start-ups.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
1. Increase women's participation in the digital economy by improving access to digital skills training and career opportunities.
2. Support women in developing the technical, entrepreneurial and professional skills needed for employment in the tech sector or for launching technology-based businesses.
3. Develop and pilot high-quality digital learning content that addresses barriers faced by women in technology and entrepreneurship.
4. Create accessible learning opportunities and educational resources that can be used across Europe and adapted to different learning contexts.
5. Strengthen cooperation between education providers, technology organisations and industry stakeholders to support women in tech.
PROJECT RESULTS
1. Development and delivery of two European training programmes:
• Future Tech Careers
• Future Start-up Founders
2. Creation of a multilingual learning curriculum with training materials, practical activities, and digital learning resources.
3. Implementation of training activities across eight European countries: Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Romania, and Spain.
4. Support for at least 500 women to develop digital, professional, and entrepreneurial skills and explore opportunities in technology careers or tech entrepreneurship.
5. Creation of a European repository of tested educational materials and learning resources that can continue to support women entering the technology sector after the project.