Description of the project: Gender Mainstreaming

Gender Mainstreaming at the „Arbeits-Initiative Backnang“
Monitoring and evaluation of the establishment of a gender mainstreaming approach in a welfare organisation that promotes employment for people that have been unemployed for a long time

Description of the project:
The goal of the project was to evaluate gender issues in a regional initiative for employment and to restructure the approach, the concepts and the offers of the initiative in order to improve equal opportunities and conditions for women and men on the labour market. The compatibility of work and family was improved by developing new concepts and new ways of support for men and women. Target groups of the process were the employees of the employment initiative in Backnang as well as their clients.

Work packages

Evaluation and monitoring of the project with the methods of qualitative social research:
Stock-taking and analysis of the current situation (analysis of documents and records; survey through interviews and questionnaires)
Coaching of management and staff
Coaching and professional inputs during the process of goal definition and development of indicators for qualitative standards
Integration and participation of staff into the project and training of their sensitiveness on issues of different gender cultures (bottom up approach)
Training and development of gender competence of the employees, in workshops
Development of a concept to secure sustainability and quality in terms of equal opportunities and gender democracy
Development of instruments for self evaluation and quality securing

Results

In the course of the project the initiative developed a model on equal opportunities for women and men and established professional standards on gender issues.
Management and staff also developed a number of minimal standards and committed to them.

According to these standards the initiative established flexible working hours and a service for the employees that picks up their children to bring them to school and back again. Clients without a drivers licence started to get financial support in order to be able to afford a licence and to increase their mobility.

In the third year of the project we developed a concept on quality securing and established quality circles for the employees.

The scientific approach and the results of the project were documented in yearly reports. These reports can be obtained at:

Arbeits-Initiative Backnang
Schlachthofstr. 5-9
71522 Backnang

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