Report on the education conducted in the Learn2be project
ZAPOSLENA D.O.O. ZAGREB AND EUROKOM GERACE
ZAPOSLENA, ZAGREB
The education program by Zaposlena d.o.o. was held in Zagreb from 24th May to 20th June 2023. 27 women participated in the training in the hybrid teaching model. Some were coming live to the lectures, but most of them followed the lectures online. Namely, we had enough participants who live outside Zagreb, which is great, but on the other hand, they were not able to attend live classes. Most of the participants contacted us through social networks, through the FB page of Zaposlena and the Learn2be program. Some of them are from rural areas, some are unemployed, some are entrepreneurs, and some work in corporations.
25 women followed the classes regularly, but we sent recordings of the classes to the others who couldn’t participate in class time, which is a quality way for more women to get a chance to hear great lectures. The lectures took place in 12 sessions, 12 days for 4 school hours. Those 12 sessions didn’t go day after day because in that time of the year are a few national holidays and during that period people often combine non-working days with weekends so we made sure that lectures should be on those days when people usually do not combine holidays and working days.
The lectures were given by the following lecturers: Andrea Čović Vidović, director of Europe Commission in Croatia, Jasna Golubić, Judge of the Commercial Court in Zagreb, Nataša Novaković, advisor for ESG in the Croatian Association of Employers, Selma Čmelik, entrepreneur, expert for digital networks, Anamarija Tkalčec, coordinator of CESI association, Nives Opačić, prof. of the Croatian language, Lucia Ana Tomić, director of human resources at Wiener Insurance, Ines Šuvak Mora, Human Resources Director at Erste Bank, Snježana Bahtijari, IT expert, Katarina Pavlović, Director of the Tax Department at Delloite Croatia, Ana Žele, psychologist, Andreja Dorušak, director of human resources at Belupo, Dunja Bonacci Skenderović, entrepreneur, expert in sexual harassment, Ana Gruden, head editor of the magazine Zaposlena and project manager of Woman of the Year selection and mentoring among women.
The participants listened to the lectures; the guest lecturers covered the topics of: the European Union for Gender Equality, Gender Equality in the EU and in Croatia, Laws about work, gender equality, discrimination, gender stereotypes, HUP activities in the area of gender equality on the labor market, about digitization and Linkedin as the most important social network in the business world, about gender-conscious language and its use, ethical business, entrepreneurship in practice, public appearances, job interview, about that which questions are inadmissible, writing resumes, sexual discrimination in the workplace, mentoring as an important tool in the business world, we also listened to lectures about good practices in the field of gender equality within the company.
The participants were very interested in all the mentioned topics, they asked questions, and participated in conversations with lecturers. They filled out the questionnaires after every 16 hours of lectures and at the end a final questionnaire in which they answered the questions directly related to lectures. The participants learned a lot about a topic that is completely underrepresented in any educational program in Croatia – empowering women in the labor market. So that all these topics in one place were very interesting to them. Also, they had opportunities to meet lecturers who are experts and recognized in their work, so they came into contact with all these women. They were allowed to contact them if they needed any questions or advice.
The participants learned a lot about the EU strategy when it comes to gender equality and Croatian Laws when it comes to discrimination in the labor market, the differences in salaries and how it comes about, as well as differences in pensions. Then, they learned what means the term “unpaid work for women”. The judge who gave one of the lectures gave several examples of real cases that ended up in court and how such cases can be reported. Expert for sexual harassment explained to participants how they can recognize harassment and in which way to report it. An expert in social networks explained everything about digitization and how to best use the most important social network when it comes to business, which is Linkedin. They also learned how to answer questions at a job interview and what questions they shouldn’t be asked, as well as everything about online job applications. Guests from large companies that implement gender equality policies talked about how the implementation of these policies looks like in their companies. Participants also received an overview of the condition of parliament in the EU, but also in Croatia. They learned all about gender stereotypes and how to recognize them in the media, but also in the labor market. Also, the topic of gender and sex differences was clarified, which was not clear to many participants until then. We talked about what is the advantages of employing women in the STEM industry and how entrepreneurship has become a field of gender equality. The digital transition and the use of digital tools were also covered. They talked about the balance of private and business life, partly through the EU directive on harmonization of private and business life.
In addition to the above, women learned many other useful things related to their position in the labor market. Through the questionnaires that participants filled out, we received high-quality feedback and also the fact that they learned a lot through lectures about things with which they were not familiar until now. We also got an insight into what lectures were the most interesting to them.
EUROKOM, GERACE
The training took place in Gioiosa Jonica from 5th July to 22nd July 2023. The training was been planned for June but the involvement of external experts as teachers has required to change the calendar of the lessons. The external expert speakers given to Eurokom their availability in July not before this period. The training lessons were taught by experts in the following topics: gender equality, European policies for gender equality, digital transition and new skills, the labor market and the rules for gender equality, the social networks as tools for jobs, internet, and digital opportunities to contrast the gender inequalities. The experts that taught in the training was been: Antonietta Dominella expert in social policies and not profit labor market; Marisa Larosa expert in communication by social network; Nicolò Palermo expert in internet and use of social network; Tonia Stumpo expert in gender equality; Alessandra Tuzza expert in social policies and gender equality; Raffaella Rinaldis expert in gender equality in the field of communication; Loredana Panetta expert in economy and European policies.
This training program aimed to strengthen competencies related to gender equality in the labor market. The intention was to develop the knowledge and skills that will empower trainees, women in particular, in the field of gender equality in the labor market to be more competitive and prepared for the challenges of the labor market. The training was organized in July, and not in June as planned in the project because the association has had some difficulties finding experts in gender equality that were available to teach during June. The training was been organized by the Eurokom Association with the participation of external experts, the lessons were done face to face and on the online platform Zoom. During the lessons, some participants were in the room that took part face-to-face in the training and some participants were connected online. The teacher did the lesson face to face but at the same time linked with the online participants.
22 women were involved in the education (online and face to face), the majority of them were from rural areas such as the small village of Gerace, Gioiosa Ionica, and Mammola, and a bit part of them were from the coastal areas of Siderno and Roccella. The majority of the participants were unemployed, with part-time employment or precarious employment.
The participants found the training interesting because they had the opportunity to learn more about the gender equality gap, gender equality European policies, and digital opportunities for jobs. The participants women said that the training was a great opportunity to meet experts about the labor market and the use of digital tools for jobs, some of them didn’t know before that digital tools were an important instrument for jobs or study. They said that the training was been a great opportunity to meet other women and to know new labor market dynamics. The training gave them the knowledge if they wanted to get started a new business in the communication field by the use of social networks and digital tools (e-platform). The participants women learned more about gender equality in European and Italian rules in the labor market, and they had the opportunity to learn Italian and European law about respect for gender equality in the labor market.
The training finished on the 22nd of July with the participation face-to-face of all women participants and teachers/experts. After the last lesson, Eurokom organized a cocktail with short networking activities among experts and participants women for exchanging ideas and opinions about to contrast gender equality inequality.
Foto: Unseen Studio / Unsplash
