Category: Project
Area: Stereotyping and Gender inequality
Place/Country: Slovenia, Romania, Czechia, Bulgaria, Lithuania
Date: 2018-2020
Institutions involved:
- Asociatia Everest, Romania
- STEP Institute, Slovenija
- Gender studies, o.p.s, Czechia
- Balkanplan, Bulgaria
- SC Ludor Engineering SRL, Romania
Target group: youth trainers, youth workers, teachers, mentors
Goals / Objectives /Aims:
The project aimed to raise awareness of social inclusion and gender balance in career guidance among youth trainers, youth work workers, teachers, practise mentors, as well as students, volunteers, interns and young professionals from the nursing, social work and teaching professions, i.e. professions that are mainly female, by disseminating the Best practise collection on gender balance and non-discrimination in career guidance. It has raised awareness on gender issues, positive behaviour, tolerance and acceptance of diversity.
Content / Structure / Description including strengthening action competence
The Best practise collection for gender balance and non-discrimination in career guidance is part of the outputs (intellectual output no. 5) of the international project MENTOR.
The document presents the main theoretical concepts and underpins them with the relevant statistics from the partner countries. To underline their relevance to the specific sector of social care, nursing and teaching, the specific section focuses on national statistics.
The issue of gender balance also has implications for the labour market, as well as for the design of policy and society’s approach to the issue of gender equality itself, which is addressed in the next section.
The best practises are organised by theme and focus. First, practises to achieve gender balance in nursing/teaching/social work itself are listed. As the examples show, the issue of non-discriminatory career guidance is not given much attention in the areas observed. The second part lists practises that are more related to this phenomenon: non-discriminatory approach and gender balance in the labour market and in the public sector.
Results / Responses → Resulting Competences:
The best practise manual highlighted existing inequalities and challenges in the labour market related to gender segregation. Data showed systematically lower inclusion of women in the labour market, especially in feminised sectors such as teaching, nursing and social work.
The manual emphasises the importance of understanding horizontal and vertical gender segregation. Horizontal segregation refers to the imbalance between women and men both in the overall labour market and in specific sectors such as social work, health and education. This segregation affects the prestige, financial benefits and remuneration associated with different sectors, such as teaching, nursing and social work.
Despite the feminisation of professions such as social work, teaching and nursing, vertical gender segregation remains widespread. Women still face barriers such as the glass ceiling, the glass elevator, and the sticky floor that hinder their career advancement. The gender pay gap in the sectors concerned also highlights the impact of vertical segregation on women’s and men’s earnings.
The manual emphasises that gender-specific knowledge and understanding of staff needs are essential for development, training, career guidance and mentoring. A fair and gender-sensitive approach is crucial for effective human resource management and leadership in organisations.
This collection of good practises serves as an example for promoting gender balance and equality in the future, given the persistent inequalities in partner countries.
Feedback / Evaluation of the practice:
In particular, the Best Practices document is useful for taking stock of what countries are already doing to improve gender equality in different professions.
Link to the source:
Project site: https://onlinementor.eu/
