Germany: Creating opportunities through networking and diversity – The Competence Centre for Berlin Women Craftspeople of the bfw

The Competence Centre for Berlin Women Craftspeople is a network and business-related project funded by the Berlin Regional Department for Health, Care and Equality.

As self-employed and as employees, women shape crafts and technology in many ways and make contributions to innovation, growth and employment.

However, the potential of women in male-dominated industrial-technical, construction-related and ecological branches of the skilled crafts sector as well as in the MINT (German expression for „mathematics, engineering, science, technology“) occupational fields is still too little perceived. Advancement and career opportunities here are clearly in favour of men. Women are also underrepresented in relevant (honorary) positions in chambers and guilds.

This is why the project promotes the networking of women in the male-dominated sectors of crafts, technology and ecology and supports the strengthening of professional and entrepreneurial skills.

Networks are key to individual professional and entrepreneurial success. At the same time, they are an effective instrument for the development of women’s empowerment strategies and contribute to gender equality in the economy.