F.IT Women in IT
More women in IT - but how? Since the end of last year, the project "F.IT Frauen in IT" has been working on an answer to this question. Through targeted training and further education offers, the project wants to create the possibility of a lateral entry into the industry for women. In order to successfully implement this goal, it is crucial to know the needs and requirements of the target group.
The project accompanies the programme "Skilled Workers for Small and Medium-Sized AI Companies in the State of Bremen, FiT" of the Senator for Economics, Labour and Europe (SWAE). Through training and further education as well as retraining, women - especially those with a migration background, single mothers without work and young women without training - are to be supported in entering professions that are needed for companies in the AI and retail sectors. In order to achieve the goals of the programme, structures and processes must be established and expanded or made permanent, which will sustainably increase the still very low proportion of women in IT-related professions.
The fact that women are still significantly underrepresented despite various measures that have already been taken raises questions about the reasons and suitable approaches to solve the problem. Both aspects are to be addressed in the project with the help of suitable scientific methods and synergetically linked with each other. To this end, current research on the topic will be received and processed, a targeted search will be made for measures that can function as good practices in the project context, and existing data on the topic in the state of Bremen will be analysed and evaluated.
In addition, it is empirically examined which individual and structural factors favour or prevent the entry of women into these professions. Two different qualification paths are possible here. Both are envisaged within the framework of this project and will be closely monitored by means of accompanying and transfer research by the research partners:
- Initial training both through full-school assistant training (2-year) and through classic dual vocational training in relevant professions - here it can and should also be examined whether a change from full-school training to a dual training relationship is structurally possible and should be promoted.
- Further training/needs-based targeted qualification within the framework of education vouchers or employee qualification at certified training providers - here special attention should be paid to recording the needs of the participating companies and the talents of the applicants and to developing the best possible matching instrument so that sustainable, flexible and, above all, adaptable offers are available here. Here too, close, knowledge-driven monitoring of the first cohorts is planned as part of the project so that conditions for success can be identified and verified.
Recommendations for action will be derived from these two fields of knowledge in conjunction with the available research findings of other STEM projects and critically reflected upon with the participants (companies, representatives of initial and continuing education and training, the Federal Employment Agency, etc.). The practical validation and implementation on new applicants for both lines, who will enter the measure from 2022, will support the development of activities and measures for the whole of Bremen. The transfer of knowledge should contribute to a lasting improvement in the access of women in general and those with specific access difficulties in particular to IT-related professions below a university degree in Bremen and Bremerhaven.
The starting point and central element of the project design is the work process-oriented survey of the needs and the resulting qualification requirements in the companies.