International projects
Improving the position of Women in the labour markets of peripheral INdustrial regions
Researchers (5)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The Danube Region is considered an area with above-average gender inequalities in the employment
sector. Unemployed women outnumber unemployed men especially in highly industrialised peripheral
regions. Economic activities in such regions are traditionally concentrated in mining, manufacturing
and engineering, which were predominantly male-dominated. Those traditional norms continue to
shape narrow labour markets, which can reinforce gender stereotypes (e.g. men occupy high-skilled
jobs, while women work in low-skilled jobs). The recent COVID-19 crisis has exposed and even
exacerbated the problem of gender inequality in labour markets through the sudden increase in
women's unpaid care work. The manifested problem of gender inequality and the resulting
vulnerability of women in finding adequate and well-paid jobs appears to be a persistent and
intractable problem that has not yet been effectively addressed by any country in the Danube Region.
The overall objective of the project WIN is to improve the position of women workers in peripheral
industrial regions, contributing to more accessible, inclusive and effective labour market for women.
In this way, the project aims to open up new employment opportunities for all women and remove
cultural and institutional barriers that prevent women from realising their professional potential. The
expected impact is to bring about positive change in terms of 1) a better understanding of women's
specific needs and skills gap on the one hand, and cultural and institutional barriers on the other,
which together contribute to gender inequality, 2) empowering women with the necessary tools and
opportunities to increase their professional potential, 3) improving the socio-economic development
of peripheral industrial regions throughout the Danube Region, and 4) more effective policy-making at
different spatial levels that can adopt more inclusive measures and practices, bringing down
institutional barriers.
