Final Report Summary - FEMSTART (Fostering the public debate on university support of female scientists to start a business) FEMSTART aimed to foster public debate on this issue based on the experience of the EU Network ProWomEn, which investigated the promotion of women entrepreneurship in general but could not consider the issue of women scientists starting a business in detail. Public debate on women entrepreneurship is very controversial as common opinion is that there is no need for special support structures for women. But statistics on the number of women starting a company or receiving start-up support show a vast underrepresentation of women compared to their part in the working world and similarly for women in science and female scientists starting a company. The FEMSTART initiative was launched in September 2006 with all seven partners attending a kick-off meeting which was instrumental in deciding on the steps to be taken in the organisation of a series of six public debates in five European regions. The partners created a recognisable project design which is frequently publicised in each of the regions as well as neighbouring regions of Europe. The internet platform offering news and events as well online registration modules, a speaker database, programme overviews, summarising papers and images of the debates was created by December 2006 and has been regularly updated by the partners. By the end of the third project period (30 months), 6 debates (in Stuttgart/Germany, Valencia/Spain, Wroclaw/Poland, Riga/Latvia, Twente/The Netherlands and Bucharest/Romania) have been successfully implemented. The consortium has been encouraged by the wealth of expertise that has been presented and by the level of interest experienced over the past 30 months with a total of 522 participants from 24 countries. Not only the experience of those from politics and programme support but also the personal experience brought to each debate by the female entrepreneurs. Also, each participant has been sensitised to the contribution women can make to achieving the economic goals of Europe as a whole, either through carrying out high-level research or by undertaking an entrepreneurial venture or combining both. FEMSTART has increased networking among the partners, many different participants of the conferences and other networks, for example between FEMSTART partners and the SWITCH project, ACTiVATE or the European Centre for Women and Technology which was launched in 2008. Stakeholders have been sensitised to the idea and goals of FEMSTART and thinking together with the partners about further projects to improve the situation of women scientists to start their own business and to improve the university structures to support women scientist to start an entrepreneurial career. Since the project started, FEMSTART partners have been invited as speakers to conferences or workshops in order to give their feedback about experience and results of the FEMSTART project, for example at the annual scientific conference in Faculty of Agriculture of Lasi, Romania in October 2008, at the conference of the German National Agency for Start-ups and Women Entrepreneurs in February 2009 in Berlin, Germany or during the Meeting of the European Centre for Women and Technology in February 2009. Similarly, the good practice support programmes have also been invited to attend other conferences since their participation in one or more FEMSTART conferences. Even after the project has finished partners continue to transport the results of FEMSTART to other congresses, working groups and projects, etc. Through the recommendations brochure and the website the partners are confident that the FEMSTART debates will offer input to different regions of Europe that weren't involved in the initiative when considering the implementation of programmes and support mechanisms which will encourage more women to consider high-tech entrepreneurship as a career alternative in the future. Each of the partners has developed a strategy to follow in their region, which will also continue after the end of the project. Documenti correlati Final Report - FEMSTART (Fostering the public debate on university support of female scientists to start a business)
