Limerick Institute of Technology’s Development Unit, based in Thurles, Co. Tipperary, is currently leading a European-wide project that aims to increase the employment prospects of women from ethnic minority backgrounds via social enterprise.
EMwoSE (women from ethnic minorities in social enterprise) seeks to provide women from ethnic minorities with the knowledge and practical skills necessary for engaging in the social enterprise world. LIT Thurles are engaged with project partners from Italy, the UK, Turkey, Greece and Lithuania in the work, which has an overall EU budget of €270,000.
Now, LIT are looking to interview women from a minority background, who are either involved in a social enterprise in some capacity or want to get involved in the area. The interviews will aim to address the needs and challenges of minority women involved in social enterprises.
Marie Taylor, who is overseeing LIT’s side of the project, says the interviews will greatly help the course of their research in this important area: “The research will consist of a number of interviews of women from ethnic minorities that are involved in social enterprises. The interviews will help in identifying the needs and challenges of the target group which will be addressed in an on-line learning platform and through the dissemination of information. The recordings and hard copy records will remain strictly confidential and will not be shared with any other party. We look forward to speaking to and empowering women from minority backgrounds in the ever-growing area of social enterprise.”
The project will take into consideration the barriers that women from ethnic minorities face: current working conditions, business management skills gaps, lack of adequate mentorship, psychological and cultural obstacles and other issues.
It is envisaged that, upon the completion of the project in December 2020, female entrepreneurs from ethnic minorities will be in a stronger position to contribute to the socio-economic growth of Ireland and other partner European countries.
Any personal data gathered as part of this research will be treated in accordance with LIT’s Data Protection Policy available at www.lit.ie/InformationCompliance/Dataprotection.
For further information on how to get involved with the study, please contact Marie Taylor at marie.taylor@lit.ie or +353 504 28476.
