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EQUAL Project: NORA
network - new employment perspectives for women
Initial situation
Objective of the project
Content of the project
Target groups
Project phases
Members of the development partnership
Coordination and project management
Initial situation:
Between 1970 and 1999, the employment rate of women rose from 44% to 59.7%,
which is still 10% below that of men. There are still great differences as to
the type of employment: approximately one third of all employed women are
working part-time, versus a mere 3% of all employed men. In 1999 the income of
non-self employed women was an average 40% lower than that of men. If part-time
employment is not included, men still earn more than women by 29%.
Despite the increased participation of women in education, the level of
education for women is still markedly below that of men. 43% of all women living
in Austria have only completed compulsory education. While women are rapidly
catching up at the medium and higher levels of education, they encounter
difficulties in finding adequate jobs that offer possibilities of career
advancement. Apart from the fact that women are still considered to be mainly
responsible for family and household work and persistent prejudices against
women in senior management positions or jobs traditionally regarded as male
domains, women's career choices and the lack of additional qualifications are
responsible for their disadvantaged position in the job market. Approximately
two thirds are employed in traditional "women's occupations", and one in four
works in a service occupation with low qualifications. There is a lack of
specific counselling services supporting women in phases of occupational (re)orientation,
especially for women who are in an employment situation but seeking new
perspectives because of insufficient or outdated qualifications or because they
are in a branch of work that has become redundant, but also for women not
eligible for benefits from the Public Employment Service who are looking for
work.
t o p
Objective of the project:
The project is aimed at reducing gender-specific inequalities in the job market
by developing and testing models of support for women in which the combined
knowledge, experience and information of the participants in the development
partnership are utilised.
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Content of the project:
- Planning and organising a model "career counsellor" training for women
working in counselling centres for women and girls or in similar organisations
- Creating a low-threshold service to complement the Public Employment
Service, available for specific target groups, especially women who are not
eligible for benefits from the Public Employment Service, women re-entering
the job market after a longer period of leave from employment, and currently
employed women with outdated or insufficient qualifications
- Promoting new branches of work and qualification options (especially in
the field of new technologies)
- Concentrating know-how in the field of career planning for women
- Establishment of regional networks for women planning a career change or
advancement, by counselling centres for women
- Supporting women in phases of career selection and job (re-)orientation,
in order to improve their perspectives in the job market regarding career and
income.
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Target groups:
- Women working in counselling centres for women and girls, as actors
within the framework of the prospective "career counselling" service in the
centres
- Women looking for a job who are not eligible for social benefits, women
re-entering the job market after a longer period of leave from employment,
women holding insufficient qualifications: services such as counselling,
individual assistance and coaching as well as networking options, also via
the Internet and new communication technologies, will be designed according
to their specific needs
- Relevant organisations, institutions and authorities in charge of
employment policy matters: for whom specific events will be organised and
information material provided.
- The interested public will be involved by means of a specific PR
campaign.
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Project phases:
Action 1:
- Research and elaboration of an analysis (status quo) on the problem of
segregation on the labour market – taking into consideration especially
the need of a professional re-orientation of women re-entering the labour
market after a longer period of leave and of women holding insufficient
qualifications
- Setting up the development partnership and the cooperation with
transnational partners; detailed planning of activities in actions 2 and 3
Actions 2 and 3 – Implementation of the project
scheduled for: September 2002-September 2005
- Planning and organising the training course as "career counsellor"
for women working in counselling centres for women and girls or in
similar organisations
- Carrying out 3 pilot projects, in the course of which counselling
and networking services open to women looking for jobs are established
and evaluated in three counselling centres with differing regional
backgrounds: urban/small town/rural
- Product development: PR material to back up the new service provided
by counselling centres for women and girls, guidelines on the methods
and strategies to be used in supporting women during their career start
or advancement, data bases, spreading and exchanging information via new
communication technologies
- Dissemination of the results and products at conferences, on the
Internet, via the networks of the development partnership
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Members of the development partnership:
- Women’s department of the Ministry for social security and
generations (BMSG)
- Social Partners: Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte (Representation
of employees) Wirtschaftskammer (Representation of employers)
- AMS (National Labour Market Service): Unit „Labour Market Policy
for Women“
- NGOs: Representatives of women’s organisations/counselling centers:
Frauenberatung Zwettl, Aktionsgemeinschaft Österreichischer
Frauenhäuser, abzwien, Frauentreffpunkt/ Frauenberatung Salzburg
Transnational Partnership
- ICM Instituto Canario de la Mujer (Spain)
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Coordination and project management:
Marion Breiter, Netzwerk österreichischer Frauen- und Mädchenberatungsstellen
(Network of Austrian Counselling Centres for Women)
A-1060 Wien, Stumpergasse 41-43/II/R3
Tel. 01-595 37 60, Fax 01-595 37 61
e-mail:
netzwerk@netzwerk-frauenberatung.at
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