DIGIGEN

Project lead 
Prof. Dr. Michael Scharpf
Prof. Dr. Bernd-Joachim Ertelt

Project staff
Anke Reuter (M.Sc.)

Third-party funding provider
European Union Erasmus+ Programme

Project duration
November 2021 – October 2024

Coordinating institution
University of Applied Labour Studies (HdBA), Germany

Project partners

• Andrassy Universität Budapest, Hungary
• Saxion University of Applied Science, The Netherlands
• Csongrád-Csanád Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hungary
• SuperPeople Company (Het Is Net Werken BV), The Netherlands
• VsI „eMundus“, Lituania

Although digital development is ubiquitous, more and more managers currently feelunderprepared. Digital skills are, however, a key competence in many companies to be able to maintain status in a global market. It is especially difficult for small and medium-sized companies to keep up with ever-changing trends. At the same time, women are clearly under-represented in managementpositions, which is why in 2016 the European Parliament pushed for the potential in digitalisation to be used for female empowerment (compare European Parliament, 04/2016). The project DIGIGEN would now like to connect both these aspects and so supportwomen in managementpositions using the targeted promotion of digital skills.

The target group for this project is not the women themselves but HR staff as well as career counsellors who are specialised in counselling women (in management-positions) . This means that women in management-positions is an indirect target group which should profit directly from the support for counsellors. First, there is an update of the current situation (on an individual partner country level) to illustrate the situation for women in management positions. Subsequently, the target group submits their wishes and obstacles, and comments on the extent to which supporting digital skills are necessary. Based on this, support material and programmes are created which are initially secured through a pilot programme. The project DIGIGEN then develops in-persontraining and also additional online-tutorials geared toward the needs of women in management positions and designed to support counsellors in their learning processes. This approach indirectly supports the digital skills and career opportunities of women in managementpositions.

At the moment, the project is still in its initial phase. In the kick-off meeting at the beginning of 2022, project members discussed the division of tasks and cemented further steps. In the course of the year, representative surveys of female managers, HR staff and career counsellors will provide information on the need for action. Based on the findings, the previously mentioned training programmes for HR staff as well as career counsellors will be created and should be available on a free-to-use platform from 2024.