Womens unemployment and lifelong learning. Introducing project PROGRESS in the region of Lower Siles

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Womens unemployment and lifelong
learning.Introducing project PROGRESS in the
region of Lower Silesia presentation prepared
by Agnieszka ZembrzuskaMonika Siurdyban
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• Project title
• PROGRESS - Higher School of Professional
  Competences for Women
• Duration
• August 2005 July 2007
• (24 months)

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• Applicant (beneficiary of the project)
• University of Lower Silesia
• Association for the Advancement of Education
• in Wroclaw, Poland
• Partners
• Association for the Advancement of Education
• in Wroclaw
• Foundation for the Study of Culture and Education
  ULS AAE in Wroclaw

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• The European Social Fund (ESF) - one of the four
  main instruments supporting activities undertaken
  in the framework of the European Employment
  Strategy Plan
• (http//europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/esf20
  00/introduction-en.htm)

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• Sectoral Operational Programme
• Human Resources Development 2004-2006
• Main objective
• the development of an open, knowledge-based
  society through provision of conditions
  facilitating human resources development by
  gaining education, undergoing training and
  performing work.

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• Priority 1
• Active labour market and professional and social
  inclusion policy
• Measure 1.6.
• Vocational integration and re-integration of
  women
• Scheme A
• Equal opportunities between women and men as part
  of a mainstream approach

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• Description of the project
• The goal of the project is to thrive for equal
  opportunities of both women and men on the labour
  market by developing the skills of effective
  employment inquiries, promoting entrepreneurial
  attitudes and preparing individuals for jobs that
  enable the accomplishment of professional and
  personal life.

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• Final beneficiaries of the project (addressees)
• A group of a 100 women
• from the region of Lower Silesia
• Unemployed or looking for job registered in the
  Local Labor Office (Powiatowy Urzad Pracy)
• Not working but willing to undertake a job or
  start an own business
• Living in the rural area or a town up to 5.000
  population (60)
• Part-time studying and looking for a job (20)
• (224 applicants)

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• Direct benefits for the projects participants
• Free-of-charge participation in the whole project
• Written confirmation of participating in the
  project
• Childcare (for the children 3 to 10) at the
  training course venue
• Reimbursement of the travel expenses
• Free meals during the training course

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• Parts of the project
• Complex preparation to job undertaking based on
  trainings (120 h) in
• Vocational activities (40 h)
• Psychology (40 h)
• Employees and womens rights (15 h)
• Enterprise and computer workshop
• (25 h including 10 h of computer lab)
• Individual Career Plan (ICP) with a career
  adviser and consultations with a solicitor and a
  psychologist (5 h)

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• Part I Vocational Activization
• How to develop your own potentials and plan your
  professional career?
• Ways of looking for a job on the Polish and
  European labour market
• How to prepare application documents?
• Job interview
• Payment negotiations

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• Part II - Psychology
• Acquiring a sense of own worth and value
• Motivation
• How to work in a group and how to solve the
  conflicts?
• How to be assertive?
• How to manage your time?
• How to cope with a stress?
• Domesctic violence problems
• How to prevent addictions?

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• Part III Labour Law and Womens Rights
• Labour Law
• Womens Rights in global perspective
• Womens Rights in the EU
• Womens Rights in Poland

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• Part IV Enterprise and computer lab
• Savoir vivre in business
• Intercultural competences
• Think-tanks in economic activity
• How to be a good manager?
• How to establish your own business?
• How to apply for EU donations?
• Computer skills, Internet

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• Follow-up after the trainings
• (5 months)
• Individual Career Plan with a career adviser
• Consultations with a solicitor
• Consultations with a psychologist

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• Idea of the project
• The project was a response to a social problem of
  the high rate of womens unemployment in Poland
  and the need of introducting and promoting
  antidiscriminatory practices.
• Total rate of unemployment (first half of 2005)
  17,6
• Womens unemployment rate 53,4 (of total rate
  of the unemployed)

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• Idea of the project
• The idea of the project was based on a research
  aimed at identifying the basic needs of women in
  the region of Lower Silesia (423 women)
• We were asking among others about
• their readiness to continue their education
• (402 said yes)
• the motivation to continue education

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• EVALUATION
• Qualitative and quantitative research
• (5 stages of evaluation)
• after the 1st and 2nd month questionnaire
• an interview with the teachers and beneficiaries
• after Individual Career Plans questionnaire
• an interview with the beneficiaries
• after 6 months - only questionnaire
• after 12 months only questionnaire

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• EVALUATION I and II stage (completed)
• after the trainings
• 12 out of 100 women found a job (2 abroad)
• None of them started an own business
• 1/3 continue their education (students)
• 98 is considered the trainings useful and
  developing (94 were satisfied with the new
  knowledge 90 gained new skills and experience)

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• EVALUATION - III stage (planned)
• after Individual Career Plan
• How applicable is the acquired knowledge (in the
  area of psychology, vocational activization,
  labour code, womens rights, enterprise and
  computer comptences) both in job seeking and
  personal life?
• The impact of non-formal education - what has
  been learnt from other participants and if it
  influnced their attitudes, activieties, future
  plans?
• What and in what sense has been more useful in
  their professional/personal life trainings or
  Individual Career Plan?

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• EVALUATION - III stage (planned)
• after Individual Career Plan
• 4) Are the participants planning to continue
  learning in the future? In what forms (studies,
  other trainings, courses)?
• 5) What meaning does learning have for them?
• 6) The attitude towards relations between
  learning and work.

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• PROGRESS as an example of lifelong learning
• The project combines knowledge and acquiring
  competences both, in professional and private
  life.
• The project corresponds the idea of relation
  between education and labour market and the need
  of adaptation to uncertain and changeable reality
  which demands open-minded and flexible
  individuals who, on the other hand, are also
  creating this reality.