A clear set of principles that underpinned our approach to developing e-Advantage.
Building on past success
e-Advantage was inspired by the success of our earlier Erasmus+ project, BREW www.brewproject.eu.
BREW identified a demand for enterprise advice specifically for older women aged 45-50+ who, research has shown, do not have the same opportunities as younger people or men of the same age. e-Advantage built on BREW by creating a creating a safe, open space online where like-minded women could connect.
Developing Resilience
We started work on this project just before the start of the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020 and had to respond quickly to the massive impact of the crisis on every aspect of our lives.
Over the last 3 years, we have explored new ways of learning, working and many of our participants, also found previously unknown levels of strength and resilience.
Project Features
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.
We delivered:
- Over 160 women trained as peer mentors, far exceeding our original target of 40.
- Online training webinar for peer mentor tutors.
- Online peer training modules for free download by independent learners or for use by tutors with accompanying tutor guides, handbook and case studies in all partner languages.
- Networking groups for each country (closed at the end of the project).
- A needs analysis survey and pilot training programme with 186 women in partner countries.
- A mentor matching feature now closed as superseded by mentors and mentees communicating on and offline to initiate their own mentoring relationships.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 resources 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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