The project “FLYie- Female Legends Youth innovation and entrepreneurship” is based on the values of gender equality in the field of innovative and social entrepreneurship.Both Eurostat (2019) and“Women’s Economic Empowerment” (2016) report provide strong evidence that women are lagging behind men in terms of the number of female business owners, the size of women-owned businesses, and their access to economic resources. Women’s economic empowerment is a cornerstone of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Entrepreneurship 2020 plan.
The importance of female entrepreneurship for economic development is widely recognized. Numerous studies demonstrate the positive impact of female entrepreneurs on economic growth and development, as well as sustainable and durable peace (Cuberes and Teignier 2014; Fetsch, Jackson, and Wiens 2015; Lewis et al. 2014; Woetzel et al. 2015). Moreover, economies characterized by high levels of female entrepreneurial activity are more resilient to financial crises and experience economic slowdowns less frequently (Global Entrepreneurship Research Association 2017, 29). Despite different methodologies, these studies highlight significant socioeconomic benefits of female entrepreneurship. Currently, the potential of female entrepreneurs is not fully realized in many economies. Indeed, worldwide less than one-third of limited liability company (LLC) owners are women. Although sole proprietorships are more frequently used by female entrepreneurs, only three economies have similar or equal numbers of women business owners relative to men.
According to Entrepreneurship Database less than one-third of new LLC owners were women in 2016. All 35 economies studied exhibit significant gender gaps in female business entry and ownership, which is associated with substantial losses to national income and economic development at both the national and regional levels. The gender gap in business ownership is observed in every income group. Low-income economies are characterized by the largest gaps. According to European Commision only 34.4% of the EU self-employed and 30% of start-up entrepreneurs. As it is stated to the agenda “Female creativity and entrepreneurial potential are an under-exploited source of economic growth and jobs that should be further developed”.
The main challenges faced by female entrepreneurs are:
-Social expectations of how they should be and behave
-Been taken seriously by a male governed world
-Balancing family and career
-Funding
-Coping with fear of failure- Lack of Self-confidence
-Minimal support
-Lack of education and examples
The OBJECTIVES of “FLYie” project are:
-To promote entrepreneurship education and social entrepreneurship among young girls and women (age 16-24)
-To bring out the significant role of women in Entrepreneurship and support them to identify their skills and competences, in order to succeed in developing their own sustainable (Social) Enterprises
-To fight stereotypes against women entrepreneurs
-To inspire young girls and women through role-model education to follow business-management careers and take the risk of founding their own enterprise.
-To enhance aquicission of key skills and competences of young girls and women
-To enhance youth educators,youth coaches, career advisors and relevant professionals’ skills in dealing with social inclusion
Our project’s target groups are:
-young girls and women (aged 16-24): we aim to empower them through role-model game-based education approaches, in order to find inspirational personalities and plan their careers without considering existing social stereotypes.
-youth trainers, youth centers, youth education organizations: Our aim is to enhance the skills of youth trainers by providing them innovative
educational methods to empower young girls and women (aged 16-24) to overcome their own stereotypes and take the risk of creating their own business
-other relevant professionals like educators, career coaches, youth organizations staff , universities etc: strengthening their skills in Role-model game based education for fostering their trainees – women, entrepreneurial competences.
TRANSNATIONAL INTEREST:
Gender equality in business and entrepreneurship sector is a priority in all European countries. Thus FLYie has a great transnational importance and amongst partners there is a shared interest to promote innovation in the field of career inclusion, and personal development of young girls and women (age 16-24). Since in most of partners’ countries there are many gender stereotypes, FLYie will create a great impact and benefit young girls and women in finding their own role model examples and incorporate them in the international tools that the project consortium will develop.
CIP is the coordinator of this project
Website: www.femalelegends.eu
Facebook:@femalelegends
Duration: The Project runs for 24 months starting on 01/09/2019 and finishing on 31/09/2021.
Project Number: 2019-2-CY02-KA205-001601
