Femme Forward
Fast-tracking women into new tech careers and supporting successful female-led start-ups
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Femme Forward was a forward-looking project aimed at addressing the low representation of women in digital jobs and start-ups. Through an innovative and comprehensive training program, women from various backgrounds were empowered to either start a career in tech or use their experience and knowledge to establish a tech start-up. The Femme Forward consortium was a partnership of 15 stakeholders, bringing together key industry, technology, and education stakeholders in Europe. Each participant in the project had a well-defined role and contributed to building a qualitative and comprehensive partnership.
The consortium worked to identify, develop, and pilot high-quality digital education content that tackled the gender gap in the digital economy, enabling at least 500 women to start on the path to tech employment or entrepreneurship. Femme Forward supported women from diverse backgrounds, with a special focus on migrants and refugees whose qualifications were not recognized in the EU; professionals and women seeking career changes for better job prospects; young graduates from non-tech degrees aiming for tech positions; women with tech business ideas who wanted to bring them to life; and women re-entering the labor market after maternity, among others.