Girls and Women in Digital

Outcomes and deliverables

• A report identifying the main obstacles for girls and women in choosing career as ICT specialists, and showcasing practical, effective and feasible actions to increase the number of women in ICT. The report should also present the EU in a global comparison and document best practices and success factors of EU and non-EU countries with high(er) numbers of women in ICT careers.
• An overview of national and regional strategies and measures to implement the “Women in Digital Declaration”.
• A forum to report on progress and discuss initiatives with regards to the “Women in Digital Declaration”, for example in the form of a conference and proceedings.

This action contributes to gender convergence as mentioned in the Digital Decade Policy programme and part of its target of 20 million ICT specialists in the EU by 2030. Women are significantly under-represented in ICT professions, one of the fastest growing sectors of employment. According to Eurostat, from 2012 to 2022, the number of ICT specialists in the EU increased by 57.8 %, almost seven times the increase for total employment. However, women only represent 21% of ICT graduates and less than 19% of ICT specialists in the EU, despite the fact that girls outperform boys in digital literacy. This paradox is addressed in the Digital Education Action Plan and through the Ministerial Declaration ’Commitment on women in digital‘ of 2019 , hereafter referred to as the ‘Women in Digital Declaration’. However, to date little progress has been made. According to the 2022 data, 81.1 % of people employed as ICT specialists in the EU were men, against 18.9 % of women. Romania (25.2 %) and Bulgaria (28.9 %) were the only Member States where the share of women was higher than 25 %.

This action will:

• follow up on developments in the MS with regards to the Women in Digital Declaration, and in particular identify best practice and promising initiatives;
• create a network of expertise and community of stakeholders, so the Commission stays informed about effective best practice to encourage and support female participation in ICT across Europe. This investment will support an increase in the number of girls and women studying and working in ICT;
• provide insights into the gender gap in the ICT professions in the EU, collecting information on the gender gap in ICT professions in the Member States, identifying and analysing best practices to tackle it;
• provide a comparison of the gender gap in ICT professions in the EU with the situation in non-EU countries with economic relevance or with high shares of female ICT specialists;
• provide a set of recommendations on activities needed to fight the gender gap in ICT professions in the EU.

The successful consortium will map, analyse and recommend as follows:

• Identify relevant centres/experts of academic research on this topic;
• Identify relevant NGOs and civil society organisations across EU;
• Identify relevant contacts in international organisations and Member State;
• Create a community of expertise and practice from these contacts;
• Identify and document the factors discouraging or preventing girls and women from pursuing ICT studies and career paths;
• Identify and document relevant measures to tackle the gender gap in ICT studies and careers;
• Identify best and effective practice to encourage and retain female participation in ICT studies and career paths in the EU and beyond;
• Prepare a set of practical recommendations to encourage and retain female participation in ICT studies and career paths.

Adequate measures of quality assurance and quality monitoring, as well as activities leading to mutual learning and exchange of good practices, will be implemented. This action will increase the Commission’s understanding of the factors behind the current gender imbalance, and of effective measures to change the status quo.

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