The Role of Entrepreneurship in Women's Life

GRUNDTVIG LEARNING PARTNERSHIP PROJECT
2007 – 2009
Mariana Hudrea, coordinator
Center for Psychopedagogical Assistance Team

ARGUMENT:
Entrepreneurial competences are among the 8 key competences meant to ensure the building of the European society based on knowledge.

ASSUMPTION:
There is a low level of self – esteem in the 21st century woman and a lack of confidence in her socio – professional potential, especially after the age of 45.

TARGET GROUP:
90 women from Romania, France and Hungary, aged 45 – 55, dissatisfied with their current professional status.

PARTNERS:
S.C. InfoProject SRL, Romania
Centre d’Information du Droit des Femmes Phocéen (CDIF), France
SITE 23 Limited, Hungary

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:
Understanding the necessity of key competences acquisition;
Identification of specific ways to acquiring key competences by the target group;
Identification of ways to successful integration on labor market by women aged 45 and over;
Dissemination of project results (leaflets, brochures, blog/website);
Setting of an international conference on “Successful integration on labor market” in May, 2009.

KEY COMPETENCES:

Multifunctional package of knowledge/skills/abilities all individuals need for their personal and professional development (European Reference Framework issued by the European Commission, November, 2004);
Solid foundation towards learning as part of life long learning;
Theoretical and practical basis to facilitate social integration/adjustment.

THE EIGHT DOMAINS OF KEY COMPETENCES:
Communication in the mother tongue;
Communication in a foreign language;
Mathematical literacy and basic competences in science and technology;
Digital competence
Learning to learn;
Interpersonal and civic competences;
Entrepreneurship;
Cultural expression.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP – A TWO COMPETENCE ACTIVITY

ACTIVE SIDE – ability to generate changes;
PASSIVE SIDE – ability to accept these changes to adjust to them and to sustain all innovation from external factors (European Reference Framework, issued by the European Commission, November, 2004);

WAYS OF DEVELOPING INITIATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP SKILLS:
Knowledge acquisition;
Skills and abilities building;
Individual’s desire to identify areas/domains to prove entrepreneurship abilitites (at home, at workplace, in the community etc.)

WHAT IS ENTREPRENEURIAL EDUCATION?
A process of both acknowledging entrepreneurship as a career alternative and forming necessary competences to start and develop a business;
MAIN OBJECTIVE:
Stimulating interest toward entrepreneurship and developing analysis and evaluation competences of business opportunities (Lemeni & Miclea, 2004)
DEFINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP BEHAVIOR:
Acknowledgement of business opportunities;
Resource management;
Making the business effective.
RESEARCH TOOLS – QUESTIONNAIRE:
Socio – demographic data (age, level of education, profession, employed/unemployed status);
A set of questions referring to importance of key competences toward a successful career – openness to knowledge acquisition/risk assumption/time management abilities/information processing abilities/(self)-evaluation of self – esteem/management of simultaneous activities/steps to follow in business development;
A group of questions on types of competences respondents wish to develop in the future by attending training courses.

OPENESS TO KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
RISK ASSUMPTION
TIME MANAGEMENT ABILITIES
INFORMATION PROCESSING ABILITIES
(SELF)EVALUATION OF SELF ESTEEM
MANGEMENT OF SIMULTANEOUS ACTIVITIES
KNOWLEDGE OF STEPS TO FOLLOW IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

RESULTS, COMMENTS, IMPLICATIONS:
Self – knowledge, initiative skills, courage, creativity, openness to novelty are landmarks for successful social and professional integration;
Throughout geo – political area under research the importance of career counseling is growing;
Role of entrepreneurial education as political/social/educational initiative (governmental and private) is evident;
Initiating courses in business management;
Investigation/evaluation of financial resources for private initiatives.
THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN WOMEN’S LIFE
PRIORITIES OF THE EMPLOYED IN ROMANIA:
35% of them wish to learn steps to business planning and developing;
35% of them wish to develop abilities for personal competence identification;
32% of them wish to learn a more efficient management of personal interests;
32% of them wish to acquire abilities to proiritize their personal interests.

PRIORITIES OF THE UNEMPLOYED IN ROMANIA:
65% of them wish to learn ways of finding a job;
65% of them wish to learn steps to business planning and developing;
50% of them wish to develop abilities to write personal marketing documents (CV, letters of intention, portfolios etc.)
35% of them wish to develop communicative abilities in a foreign language.