Gender balance in ICT

The Erasmus+ Programme is running a call for policy experimentation projects which focuses on boosting the gender balance in ICT-related studies and professions.

It’s part of the Digital Education priority, whose total funding amounts to € 15 000 000.

Encouraging change and why it matters

Despite the many projects and high-level targets (e.g., the Digital Decade targets), the European ICT sector is far away from achieving gender balance. Today, women make up only 20% of ICT graduates and 18,9% ICT specialists (Eurostat, 2022) and progress is slow. At the same time Europe faces a massive shortage of ICT professionals, and this is one of the main obstacles to a better, more inclusive digital transition.

With this call for projects, the aim is to change these statistics and increase the number of girls whose career choices or learning pathways lead to an ICT field.

Projects should demonstrate that they can design an impactful and scalable policy intervention for girls in primary and secondary school, as well as a gender sensitive teaching framework.

Who can apply

The applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must be legal entities (public or private bodies) active in the fields of education and training, research and innovation, or employers.

Deadline and how to apply

Download details of the call [pdf]
Apply via the Funding and Tenders Portal

Activities that can be funded

The main activities under this priority could involve

• researching, transnational mapping, and policy analysis to enhance understanding and bridge the gap between policy and practice
• developing and delivering capacity-building activities (training, mentoring programmes, etc.)
• designing and piloting frameworks, guidelines, methods, and activities related to innovative solutions
• proposing evidence-based recommendations which could address different interested organisations and levels
• analysing how project results could be transferred and sustained
• dissemination and networking events to showcase the project work and encourage collaboration

Implications for policy

There are several European Commission initiatives tackling the underrepresentation of women in STEM and ICT. These include

• the Girls Go Circular project which has trained over 38 000 girls in 23 countries since 2020
• the ESTEAM Fests which bring girls and women together to explore entrepreneurship, science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics

Despite the many existing projects on regional, national and European level, progress is slow and there is a need to accelerate efforts and overcome fragmentation. In view of this, the Erasmus +Annual Work Programme for 2024 has included gender equality in ICT as a priority under its European Policy Experimentation projects.

Article updated 12 March to include types of activities that could be funded