Evaluation of the “FEM Implacement” foundation Upper Austria

The programme “Women in Trades and Technology (FIT)” was a key element of the women’s employment policy programme 2006-2010 of the Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS). This programme aimed to promote the training of women in trades and technological professions. Among other reasons, this programme was special because it offered specific support to potentially interested women by means of preparatory modules, and because it financed long-term training and education – e.g. through apprenticeships, in higher technical education institutes (HTL), universities of applied science, and Kollegs (special institutions of higher education offering instruction in a vocational or technical field).
In Upper Austria the implementation of the programme strongly focused on the qualification of women in the framework of foundations called “FEM Implacement”. The aim of “FEM Implacement” was to provide women who have an interest in a trade or technical profession with the opportunity to complete a non-traditional apprenticeship through “Implacement”. The objective was to enhance the professional spectrum of women and to facilitate their access to qualified jobs in those branches of trade where they were significantly under-represented.
In the framework of the present evaluation, 50 former participants of “FEM Implacement” were questioned regarding their experiences, and their career after their participation was documented.