TEC_WOM

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Objectives of the Initiative

• The short term objective was to start initiatives to generally spark children’s interest for technical studies.
• In the already existing trainee program and the offered thesis-care the search for female trainees and undergraduates should be increased.
• With a staff survey on the work situation of men and women the company investigated how to make the offered work condition more attractive to female technicians.
• The long term goal was to increase the proportion of women in the technical and scientific staff.

Which barriers in the career stages of females does the initiative address?

-Girls and young women are not addressed consciously to get engaged in the technological science fields.
-Women are underrepresented in technical studies.
-Recruitment does not explicitly address women.

Demonstrable success of the initiative

• The Encouragement of girls to study technological subjects was encouraged with the participation in the Initiatives Girl´s Day, Power-Girls but also the Children’s University. With this activities PROFACTOR is actively involved in introducing the technical studies area to children and young adults with focus on girls at and early stage. (Unfortunately no data available)

• PROFACTOR increased the search for female trainees and undergraduates. In the Trainee program the participation rate of women rose to 37%. The cooperation with the University of Linz was built up and helps to recruit undergraduates and trainees.

• With a staff survey all executives and female technicians were asked to analyse the working situation of men and women at PROFACTOR and to identify problems or obstacles for the employment of female technicians.The survey was received positively by the female technicians.

• The share of female technicians them was raised from 3 female technicians in 2007 to 8 in 2008.

Motives for launching initiative

Right from the start PROFACTOR had only a small technical and scientific staff which the management wanted to enlarge. Additionally the company feared not to be able to recruit enough technicians to enlarge the technical staff.

The positive experience with the few female technicians in PROFACTOR and the conviction that women bring other qualities to teams than men do, were the initial motives to start activities to increase the proportion of female technicians.

Equal opportunity measures in the organisation before the initiative

Already before this project started the management was planning to increase the proportion of women because women bring in other qualities into a team than men. Work experience with the few female technicians was very positive and was viewed as enrichment.In the mission statement of PROFACTOR, however, equal opportunities are not explicit an issue. Rather, the company generally emphasizes that all employees are valued.

Target group(s) of the initiative

• School children
• School-Girls
• Female trainees
• Female Technicians
• Employees of Profactor

Implementation of the initiative

• The initiative was implemented through a proposal to the FFG with the target to increase the proportion of women among the scientific and technical staff and to encourage girls to study technological subjects. Due to the external funding the project enjoyed greater significance inside the company. The following activities were organized:

1. Cooperation with already existing national initiatives like Powergirl, Children’s University, Schlaufuchs Academy and Girl´s Day. Female technicians delivered insight into PROFACTOR´s work for children and adolescent.
2. The search for female trainees and undergraduates was intensified. A concept was designed to address more women in the recruitment process, gender sensitive job advertisement, special marketing concepts, etc.
3. With a staff survey an analysis among the executives and all female technicians on the working situation of men and women at PROFACTOR was carried out with the help of a business consultant. Main survey themes were: How was PROFACTOR perceived in the recruitment process? What could be improved? Why did one join PROFACTOR? How are women doing in PROFACTOR? How could more women be reached? The core results of the survey were that women at PROFACTOR felt equally treated.
4. Know-how was increased through education/occupational training of the HR manager and executives with respect to gender-sensitive HR work.

• The Project team consisted of four persons: The HR manager directed the project, work with children and adolescent was assumed by a research assistant, the head of Corporate Communication was responsible for the project PR and the commercial director was the in house manager of the project who supervised and supported the project progress in the background.
• The project leader as well as her colleagues invested a lot of time to coach children in the different pre-university activities. With the proposal addressed to the Austrian research promotion agency (FFG) the project was supported with maximum 25.000€.
• The Trainee program is offered to boys and girls who showed interest in the different possibilities to sneak into work in a technical R&D company. The trainee program was accepted widely, the quota of female trainees increased. In the interviews, which were carried out during and after the traineeships, the response of participants was positive.
• For the employees the topic gender in technical surrounding got familiar.

Factors of success

• Commitment of project manager and the executives.
• External support from a business consultant in the implementation of the survey.
• The visibility of the program inside PROFACTOR and the financial support from the FFG – outside PROFACTOR – helped to establish Gender awareness.
• The activities in Pre-University Programs and the tight cooperation with the University of Linz make activities visible for the public. PROFACTOR is establiahed as a company with a gender sensitive work environment.

Obstacles, barriers to implementation

No obstacles communicated.

Lessons Learned

• For introducing a new topic external support is substantial: on the one side direct support for the project leader on the other side exchange with other groups, enterprises, individuals who have experience with similar projects.
• If a survey is conducted it must be considered that enough employees participate to keep the privacy of the individual answers. Besides it is important to make sure that the results of a survey are transformed into measures.
• PROFCATOR advises companies to increase their proportion of women ande the number of female trainees. On the one hand this makes the entry into technical fields easier for girls and women because they can already gather work experience at an early stage. On the other hand the workforce has the possibility to gather work experience with women.

Benefit for the organisation

• The promotion of children´s and young adults’ interests in science and technology had widespread impact on the regional image of PROFACTOR and the presentation of the company and its work will proceed.

• For the Company it got clear that mixed teams may need longer for decision finding but at the same time they are more innovative and achieve better results.

Sustainability of the initiative

The started initiative to promote equal opportunity will be continued. Further to raise the share of female employees, especially in the R&D area. The percentage of female trainees is planned to meet the goal of 50%. The sustainability is indicated by intensifying the started initiatives and setting new ambitious goals in the recruitment policy for employees and trainees.
Awareness and sensitivity of the managerial staff for gender topics rose.

Transferability

- It is in principle conceivable to transfer this initiative to another context
- The children activities where already existing activities in the national context and are therefore transferable. The employee survey can be transported to other enterprises, sectors or national context.

Systematic Approach

The Employee Survey made the topic gender perceivable for all employees. The gender awareness rose and was implemented in PROFACTOR. In the mission statement of PROFACTOR, however, equal opportunities are not explicit issue. Rather the company generally emphasizes that all employees are valued. On the other hand, the Careers page specifically underlines that at PROFACTOR, women are welcome in technology and science.

Innovation

- The employees survey conducted with external help gave the topic gender a widespread impact in PROFACTOR and was the essential tool to establish gender awareness to all employees. The innovative aspect is characterised by involving employees and their individual perception of the topic gender in the initiative.

Monitoring / Evaluation

Summary: This initiative is good practice because...

Starting from a low degree of consciousness PROFACTOR implemented the topic of gender awareness sustainable. The activities in Pre-University and University established a visible network affecting the issue of equal opportunity in PROFACTOR.

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