Support and empowerment for women in technology

 

Women are still in a minority in the technology industry. In technical universities in Finland 20 % of the students are women. WomEqual project creates models to support women’s careers, entrepreneurship and networking in the fields of technology. WomEqual also wants to motivate young women to study engineering.

WomEqual is a three-year project (2005-2007) based on co-operation between national and transnational partners. WomEqual is coordinated by the Department of Electrical and Communications Engineering at the Helsinki University of Technology. The project is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), the Ministry of Education of Finland and Finnish municipalities. The transnational partners are projects from Latvia, Germany and Austria.

Role models and networking
It is important that women participate in the development of technology and influence the creation of future world. WomEqual introduces role models to make engineering an attractive career choice for women.
WomEqual has launched weme.fi web community to support networking of women in technology. Networking provides support and encouragement as well as belief in one’s own abilities. It also provides courage to undertake challenging tasks that are necessary for career advancement. Research shows that sharing experiences benefits women.

Peer group activities
WomEqual project has organised peer groups activities in three universities. The idea of peer groups is to gather together people in similar situations in life and through conversations allow the entire group to benefit from each participant’s experiences and views.
Peer group activities have been organized at Technical Universities of Tampere and Lappeenranta and University of Oulu. Peer groups are aimed for women working or studying in fields of technology. There are also peer groups for women entrepreneurs; both business starters and more experienced business women. A mentoring programme has also been developed.

Web community
Weme.fi responds to the needs of women who work or study in the field of technology by providing information on different aspects of working life as well as reconciliation of work and private life. Weme.fi was launched on the International Women’s Day, 8. March 2007. In April 2007 there were already more than 800 registered users.
The goal of weme.fi is to promote networking of women in technology. It is possible to have conversations with other users, find technological experts, announce events, as well as read articles, blogs, etc. Weme.fi offers the possibility for group conversations between those participating in mentoring, for example. There is also an international section, which is in English.

Business education
A business education course for post-graduate students in technology fields has been created in the project. The course motivates academic women into entrepreneurship and improves the ability to recognise research results that can be applied to business development. Students do interactive real-life case studies with technology companies, like ABB and Fujitsu Siemens. The lecturers are three energetic ladies, adjunct professors, who themselves are a role model for academic entrepreneurship. Their company Life Works Consulting, uses theoretical knowledge to develop their clients’ businesses.
“Entrepreneurship as a Career Option” seminars have been organised in technical universities with the aim of presenting entrepreneurship as a career option for academic women.

Contact / more information:
Ms Pirjo Putila, Project Manager,
tel. +358 50 3010 613
e-mail: pirjo.putila(at)tkk.fi
www.weme.fi/weme