Development of innovative methodologies to encourage and support professional diversity in the craft sector.
The sector of craft is a major player in the economy, which has benefited in recent years from a new attraction by people with a first professional experience and choosing the craft sector to do a career change.
However, the craft sector can still suffer from a degraded image in the eyes of the general public, who still too often consider that craftsjobs can be difficult and offer few prospects. This negative image also persists due to a lack of professional diversity in many activities. For example, the proportion of women at the heaf of a craft companies is only 27% and they are under-represented in certain sectors (mechanics, construction).
In addition, experts in charge of entrepreneurship assume that women create fewer businesses than men because they encounter more obstacles (financial, time, even self-confidence).
The diversity of jobs, professional equality between women and men and female entrepreneurship are therefore priority issues for the craft sector.
Objectives
To stimulate trust and promote female entrepreneurship by developping innovative methodologies to support the creation of craft companies.
Targeted audiences
Women wishing to start a business, women entrepreneurs, professional organizations, political and public authorities.
Main activities
- Study of the psychological codes and cognitive aspects of a business leader.
- Design and experimentation of innovative modules around female leadership.
- Implementation of good analysis practices between managers.
- Construction of a tool to identify existing financial tools and facilitate access to financing solutions.
Starting dates
October 2020 (24 months)
Project coordinator
Partners
This project is co-funded with the support of the European ERASMUS + program
Last updates
On September 22nd 2022, the Chamber of crafts of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region organized a multiplier event to present the ESTEEM methodology and tools. ESTEEM partners from Italy, Spain and Portugal gathered in Lyon and shared the results of the activities engaged to empower female entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs.
Results
› Presentation of the quantitative and qualitative investigations carried out to study how the psychological codes and cognitive aspects of a business leader are influenced by the gender
The literature review’s primary goal is to provide new and established women entrepreneurs with tools and information on the state of art of entrepreneurship mainly in Europe, reflecting about skills and challenges, leadership and gender, etc. It focuses on aspects identified by literature as transversal to different societies.
This report matches the tendencies observed in IO1 report and will serve as a basis for the development of innovative modules to help women entrepreneurs increase their leadership skills.
- ESTEEM training modules aim at enhancing leadership and entrepreneurship skills for women. They were designed based on the results of the research study conducted in the first phase of the project.
- Introduction module
- Being a leader
- Additional exercices to Module II “Being a Leader”
Guidlines documents refer to each module to enable training organizations to properly use the training material:
The training is followed by an individual coaching session to generate an effect of awareness and improvment of self-esteem and stimulate the overcoming of the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in their businesses.
→ Methodological guide completed by a practical toolkit
- Forging and exchanging views between business leaders, as well as networking, are essential to move forward in entrepreneurship. This document presents the methodology developed by the ESTEEM partners to design and implement role plays as activities to support the development of key skills for entrepreneurship, notably in women wishing to start their own enterpise.
- The document is completed by a toolkit including a set of practical tools available to organizations wishing to adopt our methodology
- The script template
- The role-play information
- The animation support note
- The assesment grid
- The observation report
- The exemples of role-plays, context and scenarios carried out during the project
→ Manual to develop educational modules to increase entrepreneurial skills
- Based on a non-formal education approach, the manual proposes workshops and collective activities to develop entrepreneurial, economic and financial skills in target groups. All such skills help beneficiaries to broaden their entrepreneurial project / ideas and thereby facilitate their financing
→ Reference tool for entrepreneurs to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of their financials
A practical guide that helps individuals with entrepreneurial ideas/enterprises to come closer to donors and available financial support.
Through this publication the authors aim to:
- Present the main principles of how fundraising works;
- Give inspiration for new pathways to follow in the enterprise;
- Share concrete tools at local (France, Italy, Spain and Portugal) and international levels which can help to build/improve financial capacities.
The catalogue may also be a good tool for any other entity and organization in terms of financial education where the aim is to generate support for future or established entrepreneurs
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The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
