ENGENDERING STEM Project Across the European Union there is a widening skills and employment gap in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) sector. However, female participation in the labour market is consistently low across the region. In order to develop a skilled STEM workforce to meet industrial demands, it is necessary to increase and engage the female population by overcoming perceived and/or realised barriers to entry. A key aspect of achieving this involves empowering employers and educators to make positive changes to their workplace environments and practices with a view to creating a more inclusive and attractive sector. The aim of the ENGENDERING STEM project was to identify the factors that distinguish between small to medium sized (SMEs) STEM employers that have embraced equality and diversity in the workplace and those who have not. Specifically, the project aimed to identify the interventional strategies that have proven to be most effective for improving gender equality in organisations at various stages of engagement. In order to achieve this, we developed a Self-Assessment Toolkit and best practice guides for increasing gender equality engagement that then led to the development and delivery of a bespoke blended learning training programme. The project aimed to positively impact on the flow of female recruits into (and through) the STEM sector pipeline, with a focus on SMEs, and to support unbiased recruitment and retention processes to be mainstreamed into employment and education sectors. It also provided educational resources for participants to improve their awareness and understandings of key issues through engagement in relevant, specific programmes with currency within the sector. This approach was proposed in response to an established need for low or no cost flexible educational content. In order to address these key issues the project delivered three key outputs: • Publication of Gender Equality Research and Associated Best Practice Guides • Online Self-Assessment Gender Equality Diagnostic Toolkit • Blended Learning Training Programme Application of these outputs led to the realisation of the project objectives: 1. Improved stakeholder knowledge and awareness of gender equality issues within the STEM sector by enrolling 1,191 participants onto a bespoke training programme. 2. Engaged 2,587 stakeholders in web based activity over the lifespan of the project including website access, social media interactions, engagement with best practice guides and other project outputs. 3. Supported 56 SME employers in using the Gender Equality Self-Assessment Diagnostic Toolkit to assess their progress with respect to recruitment, retention and advancement policies and practice, and produce a bespoke assessment report that is tailored to their individual needs.The 4th objective: 4. To increase the average number of females recruited by participating employers by 10% (relative to baseline) by the end of the project.This proved difficult to measure but 47% of the participating employers increased the number of women in their organisaions. The project partners were City of Glasgow College (Scotland), VHTO (Netherlands), Miguel Altuna Instituta (Spain) and EQUATE Scotland (Scotland). All project partners were chosen in response to a demonstrated track record of promoting gender equality within the STEM and associated sectors as well as experience of working in large externally funded collaborative projects. Participants were primarily drawn from the employer networks of participating organisations although additional employers were engaged by the project team throughout the lifespan of the project. Additional participants included educators, policy makers, employer representatives, third sector and charitable workers and young people. Aspiring and current female STEM professionals are considered indirect participants as they will benefit from improved workplace practices as a result of employer and educator engagement with the project. The ENGENDERING STEM project aligned to the horizontal priorities; • Social inclusion; and • Open and innovative practices in a digital era It also mapped to a range of supporting EU policies, frameworks and agendas including Europe 2020, ET 2020, Erasmus+, Riga Conclusions, Yerevan Communiqué, EU Skills Agenda and a number of local education and labour market policies and strategies. The longer term sustainability of the project will be ensured through the development of employer/educator/research networks and integration of project outputs into project partners core functions.

Rising unemployment, particularly among young people is a pressing problem faced by all European governments. Increasing employment among young people is an important priority. Due to this fact, as well as because of serious economic crisis in Europe, entrepreneurial spirit and business awareness have become even more important among students. We have found that students in secondary vocational education (and others as well) need to increase their entrepreneurial skills to be able to think obout working in their own busineses. On the other hand – to establish a successful company it is necessary to integrate knowledge from different fields in order to achieve the common goal. These are business and marketing skills, industrial and graphic design and manufacture of the product – production. These three fields have to work hand in hand. The reality in partners' school systems is that we have skilled experts in each area – educated in different programs – with no or very random contacts with each other and lack of global knowledge of how to start their own business. In this project we will combine three different fields of school education working together (production, marketing, design) to achieve the common goal of commercial success. The goal is to create high-quality and useful products which are commercially interesting, beautifully designed and have a potential on the market. Of great importance is also the fact that students need current practical knowledge that can be obtained only by experts working in companies. We will develop and upgrade curriculum also by integrating learning from experts working in the business on different areas. We want to include in school education cooperation and integration of different disciplines/programs and inclusion of case study learning from experts on the market with a common goal - to create commercially interesting products. We want this to be included systematically, not just random. That´s why we will develop new/upgraded curiculum – NET – ENT (Networking for Entrepreneurship). By Networking we mean: - interaction between the different schools, school programs - linking education with the labor market - networking and exchange of experiences from different EU countries (NET – ENT INTERNATIONAL) - establishing networks between students of different programs, which can lead to successful entrepreneurial ideas, at the time of schooling and latter on The future is in teamwork – together everyone achieves more. In order to do this innovative methods in education are needed - new approaches to teaching and learning. Teachers are the ones who can stimulate and encourage students. Therefore we will educate teachers/trainers and experts as well. Teachers will be trained to change their teaching methods and meet with different challenges. They should establish supportive relationship, be professional, inspiring and support students throughout the project from the early steps (identifying problems or customers' needs - idea - problem solving) through progress monitoring until the goal is reached. Teachers will no longer appear only in their traditional role but will become mentors/coaches/trainers using innovative methods in the class and including mentors from companies where necessary as well as teachers from other schools/programs. Students will benefit from entrepreneurial learning by developing collaborative planning, by understanding essential integration between different areas/programs to create commercially interesting products and start successful business, as well as essential skills and attitudes such as creativity, initiative, tenacity, teamwork, resilience, understanding of risk and a sense of responsibility (transversal key competences). This entrepreneurial mind-set will help students to put ideas into action and become self-confident in order to meet needs of the real market. It will help them to be more enterprising, competitive and innovative, thus becoming more employable which is crucial in achieving the objectives. Another benefit of participating in this project is to recognize the importance of cooperation between different areas to produce a successful product. Also at the time of schooling they will gain the necessary connections enabling them to open their own micro or small companies easier (early networking). In order to do this we have chosen reliable partners we know very well. Our goal in future is also to create long term partnerships and establish international module which can be used in future also for certified mobilities of students and teachers (NET- ENT INTERNATIONAL). We would like also to successfully implement entrepreneurial skills among students to increase youth employment possibilities and to improve self-employment in EU and networking among students/teachers/experts….

<< Background >>We applyed for this project in order to exchange good practices in organising skillscompetions and how to implement in the curriculum.And we want to abroad the possiblities for our students to have a skillscompetitiion experience abroad.The needs: Tools and best practices in order to prepare students on skills competitionsintegration of skillscompetiion jn the school: by policy document and by integrating in the curriculum<< Objectives >>Professional development of VET teachers in preparation of students in VET competition. Developed sustainable partnerships to establish further national, regional and sectoral skills competitions. Increase the attractiveness of VET by offering skills competition. Regarding the needs to be addressed, the partners shared the aim to seek improvements of the organization of the skills competitions and furthermore to integrate the skills into the pedagogical approach and curriculum.<< Implementation >>The partners exchanged good practices in organizing skills competitions and collected it in a handbook (attachment 2). It’s available online on the website of this project: https://www.skillscompetitions.onlineThe handbook also contains tools which are successfully used for the preparation of students in skills competitions. The handbook is available for students, teachers and policy workers. The handbook provides guidance to teachers to improve the preparation of students regarding skills competitions. Examples of those tested tools are: time management, teambuilding, communication, personal profiles, and training plans. A good example of embedding in the curriculum is the introducing of the minor in ‘Excellent craftmanship’. We expect impacts of: a greater volume of different skills competitions; increased awareness of value of skills competition; and at the end more students who participating in skills competitions.<< Results >>1.We developed 3 masterclasses via webinars for the professional development of VET teachers (1)*2.We developed a policy document on implementing skills competition in the curriculum (1)3.Three schools has broadened the amount of vocational fields involved in skills competitions (1)4.We developed and tested tools of preparation during the LTTA (2)5.We established constructive links with our stakeholders (2) which was a challenge due to Covid19.6.We developed a good practice handbook based on learning from each others best practices and tested tools (2)7.We developed guidelines for a successful training program (3)* numbers correspond to the list of attachments added to the final report.Attachment 1; Masterclass, Policy document, List of vocational fields en LogoAttachment 2; Tools voor preparation participants Skills competitions List stakeholders, HandbookAttachment 3; Guideline training programAttachment 4: Quality Survey and Quality Assurance PlanAttachment 5; Evaluation Transnational MeetingAttachment 6; Basecamp screenshotAttachment 7; Basecamp screenshot of virtual meetingAttachment 8: Agenda + minutes Transnational MeetingsAttachment 9; Dissemination sheet

Digital transformation could be defined as “anything from IT modernization (for example, cloud computing), to digital optimization and the invention of new digital business models. The Global Edtech Landscape 3.0 report states that “schools, colleges, universities and institutions are now enterprises with increasingly complex and sophisticated needs”.Furthermore, “this area of transformation supports the management of the three dimensions of education as an operational business: the institution itself, students and staff”.EU VET institutions face challenges in developing approaches to deliver quality and inclusive education through virtual means, whilst ensuring support for learners, teachers and trainers is in place to help them adapt to online/distance learning.The ADMiC project aims to support colleges, across the EU, adapt to new ways of digital working. This may require adaptations and/or enhancements to; digital strategy, digital culture and the digital resources and infrastructure required to enhance their digital maturity, accelerate digital transformation and increase the quality of online/distance learning.The objectives of the project are to:1.Enhance the digitally maturity of 50 VET institutes within partner countries by March 2023; 2.Increase the knowledge & skills of 300 VET staff on how digital transformation can improve education delivery and support for learners, teachers and trainers by March 2023; 3.Develop and disseminate a suite of open online educational resources that support VET institutes in adopting systematic and robust actions that enable and accelerate digital transformation and enhance their digital maturity by March 2023.6 partners from 4 EU states will work together to produce a self-assessment tool for assessing approaches to creating or optimising digital strategy, digital culture and the resources and infrastructure required to accelerate the pace of digital transformation. The project team will develop joint curricula to upskill VET staff in the skills and competences required to accelerate digital transformation and also develop admic.eu, an open educational resource (OER) that will increase the accessibility to digital resources in the key areas of development required for this transformation. These include; Digital Strategy & Leadership, Developing a Digital First Culture, Optimising Digital Skills and Capabilities, Data and Decision Making and Developing Collaborative Ecosystems. These resources will include a Best Practice Guide and case studies.Participants in the project will mainly be VET staff across the EU. These will include VET Practitioners, VET Managers, VET Senior Managers/Executives and VET Support Staff. The project team will also engage with VET policy makers, digital professionals working in the fields of the technologies applied in the project, Government agencies (with a focus on Digital Transformation, VET and/or skills), Skills Agencies and Industry to realise our project objectives.The project will have a range of quantitative and qualitative measures to assess impact. We hope that these impacts will be felt at local, regional, national and EU/international levels. These include; an upskilled, more knowledgeable and competent workforce, an enhanced capacity to accelerate digital transformation to improve education delivery and a more inclusive culture in embracing digital technologies as part of learning.The project will have a strong project management governance structure to implement the project activities using a proper budget control and time management process.The outcomes/outputs of this project will support the creation of an environment encouraging digital transformation in VET institutes across the EU and bring digital transformation to all levels of VET education and training. The project will enhance the learning experience of students by “fostering the development of a high-performing digital education ecosystem” and will have a positive impact on Europe’s digital ambitions, as well as its productivity, competitiveness and position in global education.

Employability of people with disability is still precarious in Europe. This is a fact and there has been no major movement since the beginning of our project. Conversely, the global pandemic seems to worsen the situation. People with disabilities are considered as vulnerable people by public authorities and they are the first affected by unemployment. Cap Emploi, public French association in charge to support unemployed persons with disabilities to find a job “has been impacted by the health crisis”. Results from the annual report by CHEOPS, Cap Emploi headend has been released and it reveals -9% for new job placement and -11% for job retention. (www.handicap.fr)We did precise in the project summary that skills contests for people with disabilities at national and European levels is showcasing people with disabilities skills and highlights their professional talent with a view to employement.Many events has been cancelled which was an abrupt stop to reach this goal despite the fact that some innovative virtual actions have emerged.Our objectives through this project: -harmonize skills contests in Europe to promote inclusion-to permit, thanks to competition, professional emancipation -create a strong European network to develop skills competition as an innovative tool toward employment of people with disabilities-to change people's perceptions of handicapped persons.In conjunction with project partners, which are at the same time training centers, skills competition specialized centers or companies from the adapted sector, our project ws supposed to be built as follows: 1/ Overview of the situation, state by state, in term of inclusion and skills contest thanks to regular discussions with other coordinators.2/ organization of concrete skills competition (thanks to what has been discussed at stage 1) in partners countries with the participation of more than 100 participants/learners with disabilities coming from those 5 countries.3/ After the end of the project, (1/2 months), drafting a reference guide to serve for people with disabilities for a better inclusion into skills contest.Number of participants original plan: 226 participants.With the health situation, unfortunately, the project did go in that matter:1/ Session 1 in England (November 2018) : trial session with less contestants than expected. We shared a lot regarding inclusion and skills contest with other coordinators, skills experts, aids, people specialized into the field of disabilities…2/ Session 2 in Scotland ( May 2019) : session in a wonderful college with a big expertise in organizing skills competition of a really high level. 3/ Session 3 (France) May 2021: virtual session4/ Session 4 (Finland) June 2021: virtual session5/ Session 5 (Germany) June2021: virtual sessionTotal number of participants: 123Participants with special needs: 61Accompanying people: 62Despite the pandemic situation, our partners remain really involved. We worked all together to find innovative solution for the success of this project. Of course the timetable has been impacted and the format of our project changed as well. However, our target audience did not change even if the representation was slightly different than expected with a higher participation of people suffering from a mental disability. Following the initial plan, partners countries did a great work to welcome real or virtual skills competition keeping in mind the final objective : harmonize our practices of inclusion into skills contest. Host partners have proposed between to 2 to 5 skills at each session. Craft skills have been selected in priority (cleaning services, cooking, horticulture, landscape gardening…). Then, we can conclude that the approach to disability concerning skills contest or in the general life remains totally singular. Thus, this Erasmus+ project and particularly physical session were helping us to realize that skills contest can bring major benefits for people with disabilities inclusion. There is a famous saying/adage that says that “travels shapes youth” and it is a step towards autonomy of people with disabilities. Challenge, test his abilities and skills, travelling abroad, cultural enrichment are some of the benefits of this project toward a successful professional life.