EQUAL Project „Initiative.Women.Founding“

In large parts of Europe women are strongly underrepresented among company founders. Self-employment, however, especially offers women an important and further to be developed alternative to engage in the labor market. For this reason the EQUAL-Project „Initiative.Women.Founding“ (2005-2007) aims at analyzing the demands and improving the consultation of potential foundresses.

A result of this effort is the software „The Self-Employed Woman. From Dream to Reality“. Apart from providing basic information it seves as a self-test, which helps interested women to assess their apitude for self-employment. Moreover, the software is suitable for being used in consultation and advanced training on the issue of founding.

The software has been developed with regards to contents and didactics for the needs and interests of women and has been tried in test groups. It is designed as an e-learning instrument, but should be preferably used in the context of blended learning courses, combining online private study with face-to-face teaching.

Target groups for the software are mainly career service and start-up centres as well as potential foundresses.