Material for reading "Awareness of women’s employment opportunities in digital sector"

4.1 A bright future in new opportunities related for women’s employment in the digital sector

Employment in the digital sector has continued to grow significantly in recent years. The rapid growth of digital industries has continually led to the creation of new opportunities for employment. There is a wide range of digital jobs meaning there is a huge variety of career options. The opportunities offered by the digital transformation are multiple. Digital adaptation creates occupations that are diverse, but all jobs demand the use of digital means. Most jobs are directly “linked to ICT in order to do or produce something”. Many of these “ICT-enabled jobs,” such as the work of a marketing manager, an employee in the telecommunications industry, do not quite fit into the classical definition of an ICT career (i.e. jobs related with producing or managing ICT tools). The emergence of this wide variety of flexible and non-standard forms of jobs can help women overcome mobility constraints, challenge restrictive gender norms, and reduce longstanding occupational segregation in traditionally male-dominated industries.


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More Women in Digital


4.2 Digital inclusion for all women

However, fewer women are interested in entering the digital jobs market. This is often because they might lack confidence in their capacity to search for a job in the digital sector. Self-efficacy in acquiring and using digital skills is considered a key motivational construct to digital job access. In order to increase the rate of women participating in the digital workforce, advocacy and support are required. Coaches need to use targeted strategies to encourage and empower women to play a more active role in the digital age. Raising awareness about the importance of a women’s role in her community not only as a mother, but also as a powerful economic actor is important. Coaches can help women understand that their participation in the digital workforce can allow for their full participation in society. Women’s full participation in society is an indispensable ingredient for a sustainable and equitable digital economy and society.

Coaching can be an effective approach to:

  • guide women in designing the paths needed to unlock the full benefits of a digital job
  • empower women so they can succeed in digital job hunting
  • encourage women to move up to higher skilled and higher paying digital jobs over time
  • equip women with lifelong competences and encourage self-awareness and self-development
  • empower women to use the legal system to assert their rights and effectively address discriminatory practices.

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Current and future demand for digital skills


4.3 Upskilling & Reskilling – Why is it Important?

The digitalised structure of our societies requires digital skills and competences if they are to ensure full participation of people in social and working life. The group of the potential project participants is diverse because they face different social and economic obstacles. The coaches need to be ready to identify these difficulties and needs, and to encourage women to particularly look for information about education and training or re-qualification course offers in accordance with their needs and situation.

The promotion of up-skilling pathways can be done by using the developed Compendium of jobs in the digital sector of the labour market nationally. This Compendium shows that there are numerous training programs, especially non-formal, which do not require a high level of education from learners. Coaches are the ones who must foster digital literacy and promote digital skills development. Enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation can ensure that women can attain a higher percentage of success in the work sphere.


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How Reskilling Can Transform the Future of Work for Women