Education has no gender

Education has no gender

Education has no gender: how true is it nowadays? Gender equality is one of the main goals we want to achieve inside and outside the European Union. Women's careers are usually imprisoned behind a ceiling-glass, beyond which there are sectors - such as technical and scientific ones, for example - still dominated by the male presence. Women have skills that are not being fully exploited. Often, they hold jobs for which they have superior skills, have limited access to training tools - such as reskilling and upskilling programs or work-based learning, or have lower wages. Developing their full potential is a benefit to all. It's time to release the brake of gender stereotypes and allow our societies to run free on the road to wealth and prosperity.

Gender equality is even more at risk in times of crisis such as we are experiencing. Challenges for the future, such as the green and digital transition or recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, are not gender-neutral. We must constantly update our policies to integrate gender mainstreaming into every policy goal.

But gender disparities are present everywhere and are even more pronounced in conflict situations. From migration to access to services to education, women are always the most exposed. In March, our "education has no gender" campaign; we want to focus on four different dimensions of the role of skills in gender equality. With our articles, live events, blog posts and podcasts, we will talk about female participation, unemployment, skills mismatch and more.

Enterprise and employment

The European Commission has many active policies to make women more involved in the labour market and boost their careers. Our job is to export the goals of these policies to the EU neighbouring countries. For example, the percentage of NEET (Neither in Employment nor Education or Training) is higher in the female population and reducing it is one of the critical objectives. Follow our campaign and stay updated on our work and how to reach the gender balance in employment, work-based learning and empowering women's leadership and entrepreneurship.

Skills Development

We want a gender-responsive approach to be developed in the just transition roadmaps across the board. The European Union fully supports SDG 5 within Sustainable Development. Empowering all women and girls is a priority and must be part of our future. At the European Training Foundation, we believe that skills development has a central role to play; not only do we need to create new training opportunities for women, but we also need to ensure that these are integrated into policies and constantly develop new Skills Intelligence studies to meet the specific needs of different labour markets.

Migration

Like all other aspects of living together, migration contains gender disparities. Migration flows are not the same for men and women. Men often migrate in search of better earnings. On the other hand, women are often forced into their country of origin and consequently more exposed to violence or the effects of climate change. The European Commission has several tools to allow men and women to recognise their skills and qualifications. During this campaign, we will explore devices and opportunities that will enable the potential of migrant women to be recognized.

Governance and civil society

Participation is the very essence of democratic societies. Nevertheless, the percentage of women in government positions is still very low, especially at high levels. A similar situation is present at the level of associations and civil societies. The involvement of women in the decision-making process is essential to create gender-responsive policies and constantly improve them. This is possible thanks to gender-disaggregated statistics and research explicitly conducted for each society, occupational market and country. We will talk about our work in the EU's neighbouring countries and the progress.

 

For more, don't miss the detailed article here.