REDUcing the Gender Gap. Creating a Community¶
Goals¶
The goal of this workshop is to contextualise, involve and empower a number of key stakeholders from different fields (on the quadruple Helix framework - academia, business, public administration and civil society) to become more aware and to join us in our efforts to close the gender gap and to define a plan to develop/ or improve (if it already exists) a Gender Equality plan that we can start implementing in the next period in our own working environments.
MATERIAL AND TOOLS¶
- Post-its
- Printouts of the star exercise answer variants
- Tape or rope to mark the floor
- Photograph or camera for documentation
ROLES¶
Ratio 2 moderators for 10 to 20 participants * Facilitator/ Moderator * Observer: Someone taking notes, writng down the interesting quotes and also keeping track of the results of the exercise (where did people positioned themselves) * Documenting the process: pictures & videos (don't forget to have the consent forms signed)
PREPARATION¶
- Drinks & snacks
- Projector or Screen for the Presentation
- Prepare the evaluation form in advance on an online platform (Google Forms or Surveymonkey) and send the link to the participants at the end of the workshop. Encourage them to complete it before leaving.
- Prepare the space where the workshop takes place (chairs, water, social distance)
- Establish with the catering company/ bistro the time to bring the food for lunch and how/where to arrange the food. A buffet lunch is recommended. Hire a local firm/bistro that you know takes care of the waste they produce, as close to zero waste as possible. Don't use plastic tableware or cutlery.
AGENDA 4 H SESSION¶
1 - We know each other (15 min)¶
A short introduction (name, field of activity) of every participant. Start with an easy question, often off topic, to lighten the mood a bit. For example: How was the walk/ride/drive to the venue? Or What would you have done with your time if you hadn't come to this workshop?
2 - About YOUR LAB, Shemakes and today's meeting (20 min)¶
Shemakes introduction & goal Empowering future female innovators of the sustainable fashion industry through inspiration, skills and networks. Within the shemakes project we use a three-pronged approach to reach our goals. We provide innovative learning paths for girls and women of various ages, concrete business support and connections, and inspiring stories of female role models.
Gender Issue Women in the textile and clothing industry are currently most represented in the lowest-paying jobs; their positions are affected by systemic gender constructs while their natural and acquired skills are assigned low value in traditional business structures.
Goal of the day: Bringing together key players in the textile and STEM fields and building a local community to act together to create positive change regarding the condition and empowerment of women in STEM and Textiles and Clothing Industry.
3 - Star exercise/ 6 quadrants (25 min)¶
PREPARATION GUIDELINES: with a tape (or cords), draw the following shape on the floor. Star This exercise is an adaptation of the Four Quadrants methodology by Waag, you can find more instructions about it here
The center can just be a square, circle, pentagon, doesn't really matter, whatever your skills allows you to create!
For each round of questions, you position the answers in one of the spaces and ask people to position themselves. For the next question, you change the papers in the floor with the new ansers. The questions can be read out loud or shown in a presentation projected or tv/big screen.
Questions + Variable answers:
1 - Do you think that in our country girls and women are treated equally to boys and men respectively? 1. Definitely yes 2. Yes 3. Don't know/No opinion 4. No 5. Definitely not 6. Other/I refrain
2 - How much do you think gender is a social construct vs. a biological characteristic? 1. 100% x 0% 2. 75% x 25% 3. 50% x 50% 4. 25% x 75% 5. 0% x 100% 6. Other/I refrain
3 - What kind of problems have you faced because of gender? 1. Lower pay 2. Intimidating, threatening or abusive behaviour in terms of physically abuse 3. Behaviour that denigrates, ridicules or humiliates a person 4. Sexual harassment 5. Lower chances of promotion 6. Other/I refrain
4 - How often have you heard such statements about women?
1. Very often
2. Often
3. Sometimes
4. Rarely
5. Never
6. Other/I refrain
Women are better at raising children.
Men are stronger than girls/women.
Men should provide the money in the house.
At each round, ask a maximum of two participants why they have positioned themselves on that quadrant.
4 - The general public's perception regarding gender gap (15 min)¶
Try to find/research the local/national/global contextregarding gender differences, in the textile and STEM industries. If you are unclear about these statistics, or do not have easy access to them and time allows, you can launch an online questionnaire (a month or two before the event). An example of a questionnaire could be this one, but you can limit yourself to just a few questions.
The questions in the Star exercise can contain facts from statistics or you can use 2-3 questions from your questionnaire. The idea behind this is to compare the stakeholders' answers with the real data/responses of the questionnaire. .It's a good exercise to bring up the term implicit bias and how we are all prejudiced more than we'd like to think.
In this section of the workshop, you can bring in data from the European and Global contexts regarding the gender gap. Put together, through comparison, it builds the foundation for the discussion and experiences part of the workshop.
5 - Discussion and sharing experiences - (60 min)¶
The discussion and experience part already has a foundation built through previous exercises. Invite stakeholders to share experiences (even personal ones) and situations where they have experienced gender injustice or where they have witnessed it. How did they feel at the time? What is the difference in attitude and approach now compared to then?
Moderate towards a friendly and warm dialogue. Remind them whenever necessary that there are no wrong answers and that they are in a safe environment. Make sure everyone respects each other and each other's opinions.
6 - GEP- Gender Equality Plan - (45 min)¶
By presenting a simple Gender Equality plan structure, engage stakeholders to start with themselves - where they go wrong (implicit biases) and how they can generate change from their environments. small actions with big impact.
7 - Reflections, conclusions & networking lunch - (60 min)¶
The end of the session ends with an invitation to the stakeholders to take part in a lunch (buffet style), a good opportunity to reflect on the meeting that has just ended, to get to know each other better and to set up future meetings.