Un conjunto claro de principios que sustentaron nuestro planteamiento para desarrollar e-Advantage.
Aprovechar los éxitos del pasado
e-Advantage se inspiró en el éxito de nuestro anterior proyecto Erasmus+, BREW www.brewproject.eu.
BREW detectó una demanda de asesoramiento empresarial específico para mujeres mayores de 45-50 años que, según los estudios, no tienen las mismas oportunidades que los jóvenes o los hombres de la misma edad. e-Advantage se basó en BREW para crear un espacio abierto y seguro en línea en el que pudieran conectarse mujeres con ideas afines.
Desarrollar la resiliencia
Empezamos a trabajar en este proyecto justo antes del inicio de la pandemia de Covid 19 en 2020 y tuvimos que responder rápidamente al enorme impacto de la crisis en todos los aspectos de nuestras vidas.
En los últimos 3 años, hemos explorado nuevas formas de aprender, de trabajar y muchos de nuestros participantes, también han encontrado niveles de fortaleza y resiliencia desconocidos hasta entonces.
Características del proyecto
The platform was created as a resource and safe space for our mentors and mentees to communicate online through registering as a member. Registration has now been removed to enable open access to the training and other resources.
Hemos cumplido:
- Más de 160 mujeres recibieron formación como mentoras, superando con creces nuestro objetivo inicial de 40.
- Seminario web de formación en línea para tutores mentores.
- Módulos de formación inter pares en línea for free download by independent learners or for use by tutors with accompanying tutor guides, handbook and estudios de caso en todas las lenguas de los socios.
- Grupos de trabajo en red para cada país (cerrados al final del proyecto).
- Una encuesta de análisis de necesidades y un programa piloto de formación con 186 mujeres de los países socios.
- A mentor matching feature now closed as superseded by mentors and mentees communicating on and offline to initiate their own mentoring relationships.
- The platform will continue to provide free access to training modules for use by independent learners or used by tutors with accompanying tutor guides. These, plus links to other recursos are all available in English, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian and Czech.
Lessons Learned
Feeling Unheard
Women face the double disadvantage of both age and gender discrimination. Creating a safe space for them to open up is key to successs.
Age Perception
There is no common definition of an 'older woman's' age across different EU countries. It's important to not be too prescriptive in setting age thresholds.
Positive Language
Use positive language when communicating (e.g. 'use your age to your advantage as a mentor', rather than focusing on negatives e.g. 'behind the times').
Social Media & IT
Try to avoid talking generally about the 'internet' and focus specifically on its uses (i.e. Facebook, Email, WhatsApp) which are more relatable.
Momentum
Do not leave too long a gap between promoting a project and delivering it. It's hard to keep people waiting for a long time and some will become frustrated.
Experienced Tutors
Experienced and confident tutors work best for training peer mentors. Introduce a 'supervisor / observer' role to support trainee peer mentors who lack confidence.
Skills Matching
If a mentee needs mentoring in a particular skill that isn't available, encourage them to reach out to their own network on social media / email. We found this happened quite a few times.
On & Offline Learning
Online training for peer mentors and online peer mentoring worked well after initial teething problems, but partners found blending online with some face-to-face learning was optimal.
Mentor + Mentee
Overall experience was enriched when women participated both as a trained peer mentor and mentee. This was a lesson learned that was different to our original assumptions.
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