DIGITAL GENDER GAP

Approximately 90% of jobs today require some level of digital skills and both the Council Resolution on a Renewed European Agenda for Adult Learning and the Upskilling Pathways Initiative recommend adult education provision is strengthened to improve the digital skills of many millions of low-skilled or low-qualified adults who are most vulnerable in the labour market.

However, even in 2020, a digital gender gap persists across Europe – “gender inequality in the digital sphere is a result of the persistence of strong unconscious biases about what is appropriate and what capacities each gender has, as well as about the technologies themselves.” Women, especially those from migrant backgrounds, face higher levels of gender stereotypes and discrimination which reduce their motivation and access to the digital training.

SOLUTION

New communication technologies however could not only help migrant women overcome isolation and distance from their home countries, but also provide them with valuable tools for active participation, emancipation as well boosting their employability.

OBJECTIVE

Teach Digital thus has a clear objective: increase the ability and motivation of educators working with low-skilled, low-qualified women from migrant and ethnic mino

rity backgrounds to use cultural and gender appropriate learning strategies and digital tools in order to make learning digital more attractive, relevant and boost their professional and personal development.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES

The first tangible results of the project will be the intellectual outputs:

• IO1 TEACH DIGITAL TOOLBOX– a publication that introduces the main tenets of andragogy for adult education to educators, including teaching strategies and case studies proven to be particularly effective in working with women from a migrant and EM background. Secondly, up to date research and case studies on the use and value of digital tools in Adult Ed incorporating a guide on 10 free tools/apps most useful for adult education, highlighting their specific strengths and appropriate andragogic strategies.

• IO2 DIGITAL ROUTE FINDER- This interactive, online tool will present indicators of digital competences in easy-to-understand language with clear illustrations, thus helping migrant and ethnic minority women to identify their current level of digital competence in each of the five DigComp areas..
• IO3 ESSENTIAL DIGITAL SKILLS for EMPLOYMENT OERS, will be a focused yet flexible set of OERs which adapt existing best practice in women’s andragogy for use with migrant & ethnic minority women in adult education settings. Resources will include andragogic guides to help adult educators use innovative approaches that are true to the principles of adult education (group work, experiential learning, problem centred) & ready-to-use activities which reflect migrant & ethnic women’s areas of interest, & are thus more likely to ensure higher engagement & completion rates.