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Gender Equalityin Local EconomicDevelopmentin ScotlandCase Study for theInternational ProjectW. In D.Women in DevelopmentLaura Polverari and Rona Michie“With the support of the European Union - Programme concerning the Community framework strategy on gender equality (2001-2005)”

Gender Equalityin Local EconomicDevelopmentin ScotlandCase Study for theInternational ProjectW. In D.Women in DevelopmentLaura Polverari and Rona MichieWith support from the European Community – Programme relating to the Community Framework Strategy onGender Equality (2001-2005). The information contained in this publication (or in other materials) does notnecessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.

Case study report for theItalian Presidency of the Council of Ministers,Department for Rights and Equal OpportunitiesNot to be quoted without permissionSeptember 2007European Policies Research CentreUniversity of Strathclyde40 George StreetGlasgow G1 1QETel: +44-141-548-3061Fax: +44-141-548-4898e-mail: laura.polverari@strath.ac.ukrona.michie@strath.ac.uk

TABLEOF CONTENTSPrefaceV1. Introduction 12. Setting the context: Equal opportunities in Scotland 32.1 The equality issue in Scotland 32.2 Economic development policy in Scotland –the framework for local development 72.3 Local development and gender in Scotland 83. Analysis of good practice examples 103.1 Close the gap 113.2 Women’s Fund for Scotland 163.3 Engendering policy 213.4 Advancing Women Employability (AWE) 243.5 Work-Life Balance (WLB) 273.6 Women into Business (WiB) 293.7 Women into Enterprise (WiE) 324. Scenarios and perspectives 374.1 Legislation 374.2 Role of the European Commission 384.3 Role of national and local governments 38III

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotland4.4 Role of non-governmental actors and the civil society 394.5 Policy gaps 405. Conclusions 416. ANNEX 1 - Case Study synthetic overview 43IV

PrefaceLocal development processes are not neutralfrom a gender point of view. There is now someinteresting theoretical and empirical evidence ofa strong correlation between Local Developmentand Gender Equal Opportunities.Numerous studies that have been carried outhighlight the strong correlation between economicgrowth and female presence in the labour market.There are also many studies that emphasize theinefficiency in various contexts where discriminationand segregation hinder a better use ofthe resources to re-launch competitiveness of thelocal systems through men’ as well as women’skills.These correlations most certainly have twoimplications:(a) Equal opportunities improve local development;(b) Local development improves the female positionin local contexts.Such a hypotheses is not based, obviously, on anethical principle (which would also have itsrelevancy), but on evidence of a very precise socioeconomicnature. The literature leaves little doubtregarding the growing role of women in socioeconomicgrowth processes, given the clearpositive correlation between growth and equalopportunities in the labour market. The countrieswith the highest growth rates and the highestlevels of pro-capita income, also have the highestfemale participation in the labour market.The cause-and-effect direction primarily goes fromgrowth to gender equality since higher levels ofdevelopment generally lead to higher levels ofeducation, democracy and equality between menand women (Lofstrom, 2001), but there is also apositive relationship between gender equality andsocio-economic growth. Greater female participationand employment imply greater currentproduction, but also a greater future growth,because of the effects on the new generations(higher family income, greater investment inhuman capital and health). According to recentestimates (Olsson, 2000), the growth in participationof women in the labour market wouldexplain, for the 20 years between 1980 and 1999,almost a fifth of the growth of the European GDPagainst a negative contribution from the maleworkforces. Even though this data could be anoverestimation because of the greater concentrationof women in part-time jobs and in sectorsof smaller scale production (for example, in PublicAdministration), in all the European countries, anever greater share of the wealth produced andsocial development is incontestably due to thecontribution of women.In a long-term perspective, the benefits to sup-V

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandporting participation in female employmentbecome clear even in terms of an increase indevelopment levels given that, again from aneconomic perspective, some virtual circles becomegrafted and increase efficiency in resource use(Humphries, Rubery et al., 1999; Rubery et al.,1999).When female employment grows, for example,family incomes grow with a positive impact on thecollective demand and tax revenue. Another virtualcircle is the tie between the growth in educationallevels — and therefore the investment in humancapital — and the growth in female participationin training courses. Or, the support of femaleparticipation in the labour market makes itpossible to reduce the depreciation of investmentin female human capital that emerges followingan interruption in work activity for problemsrelated to re-conciliation and/or problems ofoccupational and professional segregation of thefemale workforce. Again to give another example,the support to participation and femaleemployment through re-conciliation policiesinsures, in the medium and long-term, adequateconditions for social reproduction, such as, forexample those tied to the growth of futuregenerations.The benefit of Equal opportunity policies is alsoclear, both in the short and long-term, in the areathat is most concerned with social development ofa given territory because equality of the productiveand reproductive conditions of men and womenhave a positive impact on the quality of life,increasing women’s possibilities of choice; risks ofpoverty for the female population are reduced,working conditions of men and women and, moregenerally, life conditions are improved.Support for the participation of women in activeworking life is therefore a form of investment inthe female resource that has side effects forsociety on the whole and for its variouscomponents: there is a parallel improvement inlife conditions of men and children. The attemptsat analyzing the efficiency of Equal opportunitypolicies conclude that this type of measure(Rubery et al., 1999) can be considered as a truefactor in productivity.The female world is a resource for Localdevelopment not only because it contributes toeconomic growth of the territory and its socialreproduction, but also because it promotes andconfirms alternative approaches to development.The experiences of micro credit for womenenduring extreme conditions of backwardness andpoverty in Southern areas of the world, thoughbeing distant experiences, are enlightening. Infact, the microcredit institutions recognize thesewomen as carriers of a more valid and effectivesocial promotion than men, finding one of thebasic motives for it in their ties with their childrenand, therefore, with the future generations.Beyond the growth of female awareness, theeffects of microcredit are reflected in the mostvaried environments of social and family life andemphasize women’s great attention to the future:from educational and instructional choices ofchildren (that favour education and oppose underagelabour) to planning procreation. Furthermore,the women show themselves to be more carefuladministrators than men regarding loans, apartfrom emphasizing, especially in some countrieswhere there is strong pressure to emigrate, thatthere is less of a propensity to leave the country(Yunus, 2003).The territorial and local dynamics confront eachother with various expectations from the femaleworld related to the configuration of thecombination of productive and reproductive rolesthat women play in a given territory. Theseelements must be made known (and shared) inorder to identify the possible solutions in termsof policy (and the participation of the territory intheir definition).The factors of the socio-economic context —therefore the local dimension — have a specialinfluence in determining the choices and theparticipational behaviours of women, then ofthose of men.VI

PrefaceIf we take for granted the unequal distribution ofcare roles between men and women as data, it isimpossible to ignore the differences in the femalecondition and problems of re-conciliation that theydenote, for example, in urban and rural areas, bothin support for participation and in a perspective ofsupport for permanent employment. The elementsthat differentiate the female condition in the localdimension are related to a myriad of otherenvironmental factors: from the economic vocationof a territory (industrial, tertiary, tourist, agricultural,specialized, etc.), to the cultural andrelationship models of the community, from theavailable resources to redistribute care work,whether institutionalized (infancy services, largecompanies that more easily adopt reorganizationmodels for work schedules, roots in the thirdsector and the spread of practices such as TimeBanks) or other, (relationships with neighboursand exchange models, family structures andintergenerational solidarity) to policies on timesand transport.It is actually the context’s relevancy in designingthe terms by which women represent a resourcefor development that suggests that the localdimension is a resource for Equal opportunitypolicies.In fact, in the first place, like the developmentpolicies, the Equal opportunity policies have agreater probability of meeting the needs formeasures in as much as the more they are plannedand implemented “close” the population thatexpresses the need, the better. In the secondplace, the local dimension facilitates that policyintegration process that characterizes the essenceof gender mainstreaming. The labour and trainingpolicies often have a greater possibility of beingplanned and implemented in synergy with otherpolicies that support female inclusion in the labourmarket, such as care policies (children, the elderly,the infirm), transport policies, scheduling policiesand all those measures that have an impact onthe quality of life and the safety both of theworkplace, and more generally, the territory.Finally, the Equal opportunity policies promoted atthe local level have greater chances of involvingthe relevant actors (local authorities, enterprises,civil economy, management and labour, thepopulation). The question of capacity building andmobilization of local stakeholders is furthermorea central element in the implementation ofequality policies, and emphasizes the need topromote women in policymaking processes andat all decisional levels (empowerment), whetherwith the greater involvement of women in thedecision-making places or the involvement ofequality bodies and other women’s organizations.At the same time, the equality organizationsshould be involved in networking processes bothin terms of connection with other local actors aswell as connection with other levels ofgovernment. This could also take place through“concertation” 1 tables that deal with this issuesand/or protocols, for example, in the sphere ofterritorial pacts in order to provide openly forpromotion and gender mainstreaming in thechoices implemented to foster Local development(Campbell, 2003).Unfortunately, although the world of womenrepresents a resource for the territory and the localcontext, primarily when a medium to long-termperspective is adopted (Rubery, Fagan, 1999), thistopic is rarely analyzed in its complexity andmultidimensional nature, from the gender pointof view. In this framework, a project such asW. In D., promoted by the Dipartimento per i Dirittie le Pari Opportunità (Italian Department for Rightsand Equal Opportunities) of the Presidenza del1 For “concertation” we intend activities in order to involve main stakeholders and reach consensus on a specific issue.VII

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandConsiglio dei Ministri (Presidency of the Councilof Ministers), seems important. The project’sambitious objective is, to define methodologicalsteps for verifying the gender policies thatcontribute to Local development. This means, inother terms, verifying the hypothesis on thenegative influence which occurs when the Equalopportunity principle is not applied in the localdevelopment of a territory and, vice versa, towhich degree the lack of local development limitsimprovement in the position of women.The little involvement of women in localdevelopment processes, and the minimal attentionreserved for the gender principle in those samedevelopment policies, continue to be constant inmost European countries. The issue is at the centerof the V Program of community action for equalopportunity between men and women in theframework W. In D. was funded. The project goesfrom the conviction that it is necessary to promotea strong coordinated action at a European levelto support these issues and make the necessarycultural change in order to concretely apply thegender mainstreaming principle in local socioeconomicdevelopment processes.The transnational partnership of the project wasformed to include various cultural attitudes andvarious experiences in gender oriented equalopportunity throughout the European Union, aswell as different organizational-institutionalsystems found in the Member Countries. Thepartnership structure of W. In D. is as follows:• Promoter with the role of direction andcoordination of the project activities:Department for Rights and Equal OpportunitiesPresidency of the Council of Ministers, Italy• Transnational partners:European Policies Research Centre (EPRC)University of Strathclyde, UKInstitut de Govern i Polítiques Públiques (IGOP)University of Barcellona, SpainNational Commission for the Promotion ofEquality (NCPE), Malta• National partner: Institute for Social Research(IRS), ItalyIncluding Spain and Italy in the project led to the“typical” problems of Mediterranean countries ontopics of gender oriented equal opportunity,although they were part of two rather differentpolitical institutional contexts, especially in thearea of administrative decentralization.The Maltese partner allowed for a perspective onthe experience of a small country that is stilldealing with numerous problems in the sphere ofequal opportunity. For this reason the recent entryinto the European Union represents, at the sametime, a challenge and a chance for rapid progress.The Scottish partner, finally, guarantees the Anglo-Saxon perspective, characterized by a moreadvanced situation in gender equality terms andtherefore working more on a gender mainstreamingapproach and on a wider concept ofequal opportunities, open to all forms ofdiscrimination.Through a comparative research action, the projectproduced an Intervention model and Guidelinesfor introducing and strengthening the equalopportunity principles in the local developmentprocesses. This tool is intended to meet a doubleneed: to foster and consolidate local strategies thatfavour female participation in localdevelopment processes in the various localcontexts; to define an integrated approach for fosteringthe inclusion of gender mainstreaming in localdevelopment processes, shared by all theproject partners.The intervention model was outlined starting withthe results of the research and from theVIII

Prefacesolicitations and needs that emerged in the panelsorganized in each of the partner countries withthe participation of institutional stakeholders,representatives of the socio-economic partnership,reference people of the best practices analyzed –and represented a first step for the definition ofconcrete methods and tools for promoting gendermainstreaming as a constituent element in thelocal development processes, as declined in theGuidelines.This publication is one of the products of W. In D.listed below: Spanish case study; Maltese case study; Final report of the comparative research study“Strategies and experiences carried out in thelocal development processes at a Europeanlevel” ; Model and Guidelines: “A gender oriented localdevelopment model”; Catalogue of best practices. Italian case study; Scottish case study;Department for Rights and Equal OpportunitiesItalian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, ItalyIRS - Institute for Social Research, ItalyBibliography• Campbell M., Local Employment Development in the European Union. Acting Together at the Local Level: More and Better Jobs,Better Governance, Atti del Convegno European Forum on Local Development and Employment, Presidency of the European Unionin Rhodes, 16/17 maggio 2003.• Lofstrom A., A report on gender equality and economic growth,http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/equ_opp/information_en.html#emp, 2001.• Olsson H., Social Security, Gender Equality and Economic Growth, mimeo, 2000.• Rubery J., Fagan C., Smith M., Women’s Employment in Europe. Trends and Prospects, Routledge, London, 1999.• Humphries J., Rubery J., Fagan C., Grimshaw D., Smith M., Equal Opportunities as a Productive Factor, Study for the Policy andPerspective Group of DG Employment and Social Affairs – European Commission, 1999.• Yunus M., Il banchiere dei poveri, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2003.IX

1.IntroductionThis report stems from research undertaken byLaura Polverari and Rona Michie of theEuropean Policies Research Centre, University ofStrathclyde (Glasgow) for the project “W.IN.D. -Women In Development”. The project deals withthe identification and dissemination of effectiveways to promote gender equality in local economicdevelopment.Funded under the Fifth Community ActionProgramme for Gender Equality and led by theItalian Department for Equal Opportunities andHuman Rights, the study entails comparativeanalysis of four international case studies – onItaly, Malta, Cataluña and Scotland – with the aimof identifying good practice examples and drawingcomparative lessons for future action in this area.As one of the partners of the research consortium,EPRC was in charge of the elaboration of a casestudy on Scotland to identify and analyse: (i)practical experiences with strategies to supportthe participation of women in local developmentprocesses, and (ii) practical experiences withstrategies to support the introduction of theprinciple of gender mainstreaming into localdevelopment processes.The case study entailed a mix of desk- and fieldresearch,conducted in the period January-March2007, namely:• preliminary desk-research on the genderequality issue in Scotland;• preliminary desk-research on Scottish policiesfor gender equality;• preliminary desk-research on projects implementedin Scotland for the support ofwomen’s participation in local developmentprocesses and of gender mainstreaming intolocal development processes;• the selection, mainly through desk-research,of good practice examples for field investigation;• the undertaking of seven face-to-faceinterviews with officers from the organisationsresponsible for the selected projects; and,• the drafting of the present case study report,inclusive of preliminary conclusions andrecommendations.The content of the case study was finalised aftera workshop with representatives from the casestudy projects and other Scottish organisationsinvolved in gender equality, includingrepresentatives from: the Scottish ExecutiveEquality Unit, Equal Opportunities CommissionScotland, Fitzgerald Associates and others. Theresearch team would like to thank all those who1

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandparticipated in the research. The report’s content,however, is the responsibility of the authors alone.The research has been conducted according tothe project’s research protocol formulated by IRSand agreed at the project’s first SteeringCommittee (October 2006) and in line with theUniversity of Strathclyde code of practice onresearch ethics(http://www.mis.strath.ac.uk/Secretariat/pdf/Code%20of%20Practice%20-%202005.pdf). Anysensitive information obtained from interviewshas been treated in the utmost confidence andhas not been quoted.2

2.Setting the context: Equal opportunities in Scotland2.1 The equality issue in Scotland 1In Scotland, there are marked gender differencesin life expectancy, with women now living longerthan men, and, as a result, constituting a largerpart of the population. In 2006, almost 52 percentof Scotland’s population were women. This hasimportant implications for economic developmentpolicy, and there is an important trend ofincreasing economic activity among older women(aged 50-59).However, significant and persistent genderinequalities still exist in Scotland. In general,women have: less access than men to income,earnings, pensions and material resources; lessaccess to time that is their own and not spentcaring for other people or on paid or unpaid work;less access to political power and decisionmaking;and they have a one in five chance ofexperiencing domestic abuse during their lives.The following paragraphs discuss in brief thesituation of women in Scotland with respect to:population; labour market; earnings and income;entrepreneurship; education; power and decisionmaking;and, family ties and domestic abuse.2.1.1 PopulationAt the date of 30 June 2006, the total Scottishpopulation was of 5,116,900, 51.7 percent ofwhich female (2,647,493). In the year to June 2006Scottish population rose by around 22,100 people,largely as a result of net in-migration (58.7 percentfrom other countries and 41.2 percent from withinthe UK). 2 In the full calendar year moreover, birthsexceeded deaths by about 600 units, whichmarked a positive birth rate for the first time intwelve years. 3 Overall, in the last ten years, femalepopulation has remained almost stable (with anincrease of 2,323 units), while male populationhas increased of over 22,000 units, (22,387), foran overall increase (male and female) of just under25,000 units (24,710; see Figure 1 below 4 ).1 This section was developed using the following main sources: General Register Office for Scotland, Mid-2006 Population Estimates Scotland Historical Time Series Tables,first published 27 April 2007, revised 27 July 2007; General Register Office for Scotland (2007), Scotland’s Population 2006. Annual Review 2006 of demographic trends, firstpublishes 27 July 2007; Scottish Executive (2006) High Level Summary of Equality Statistics. Key Trends for Scotland, Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication;Strategic Group on Women (2003) Improving the Position of Women in Scotland: An Agenda for Action. Report to the Scottish Executive; Scottish Enterprise and Highlandsand Islands Enterprise (2005) Sharpening the Focus on Women’s Enterprise in Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise; Rosemarie McIlwhan (2006)Public Policy Scottish Statistics Desktop Research, Equal Opportunities Commission.2 http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/2007-news/the-rgs-review-of-scotlands-population.html.3 http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/2007-news/the-rgs-review-of-scotlands-population.html.4 It should be noted that from 1996 to 2002 the Scottish population declined steadily and started to grow, at first slowly, only in 2003.3

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandFIGURE 1Total, male and female population in Scotland (1996-2006)19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006Source: General Register Office for Scotland, Mid-2006 Population Estimates Scotland Historical Time Series Tables, first published 27 April 2007, revised 27 July 2007,http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/population-estimates/mid-2006-population-estimates-scotland/index.html.Life expectancy in 2007 is estimated to be of 79.9years for females and 75.1 years for males. Bothvalues have increased over time (only ten yearsbefore they were of 78.1 and 72.6 respectively),but are still below both the UK and EU averages.Male life expectancy is one year lower and femalelife expectancy is two years lower than the EU25average, and both are about 4 years lower thanthe best performing EU countries. 5 The averagenumber of children per woman in Scotland in 2006was of 1.67, a fertility rate lower than the rest ofthe UK 6 but higher to ten years before (1.56). Theaverage mother’s age at childbirth in 2006 was of29.5, also higher than in past years. Almost half ofall births – 48 percent - were recorded amongstnon married parents (compared to a value of 36percent in 1996). 72.1.2 Labour marketSince the 1980s, women’s employment hasbenefited from the decline of manufacturingand the emergence of the services sector, bringingwith it a more flexible labour market and part-timework. As elsewhere, however, male employmentrate is higher in Scotland than the femaleemployment rate. In the period May-July 2006, 72percent of women in employment age wereemployed, compared to 77.8 percent of males. Inthe same period, female activity rate reached 75.8percent (against a male activity rate of 82.5percent). 8 Both female employment and economicactivity rates have improved significantly over theyears. The female employment rate has risen tothe current 72 percent from 67.5 percent in 1999.Equally, activity rates for women in Scotland have5 General Register Office for Scotland (2007), Scotland’ Population 2006. Annual Review 2006 of demographic trends, first publishes 27 July 2007, p. 3, http://www.groscotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/annual-report-publications/rgs-annual-review-2006/index.html.6 In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the fertility rate in 2006 was of respectively: 1.87, 1.84 and 1.95, General Register Office for Scotland (2007), Op. Cit..7 http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/press/2007-news/the-rgs-review-of-scotlands-population.html.8 National Statistics (2006), First Release. Labour Market Statistics. September 2006: Scotland, 13 September 2006, http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsscot0906.pdf.4

Setting the context: Equal opportunities in Scotlandincreased dramatically from 1999 to 2004 (by 21.1percent, as opposed to 13.3 percent for men).Despite the improvements, women’s activity andemployment rates remain in the period May-July2006 more than five percentage points lower thanfor men 2006 (although the gap has narrowedsince 1999), with a differential of 6.7 percent inactivity rates and of 5.8 percent in employmentrates. 9Amongst those in employment, furthermore,significant gender differences emerge whenconsidering the proportion of full-time and parttimeemployment: the 2006 full-time maleemployment rate is markedly higher than thefemale corresponding rate (71 percent to 43percent percent). Conversely, the 2006 part-timeemployment rate is markedly higher for women(28 percent) than for men (7 percent). 10 These datashow that fewer women are employed, and, whenin work, women are disproportionately representedin part-time jobs (and also low paid jobs aswill be seen below).2.1.3 Earnings and incomeIn Scotland there is still a considerable genderpay gap. In 2006, the mean hourly pay rate foradults in full-time employment in Scotland was14 percent lower for women than men; women inpart-time employment earned 12 percent less thanmen in part-time employment (mean hourly payrate for adults in part-time employment) 11 andcirca 35 percent than men in full timeemployment 12 . The pay gap for full-time employmenthas narrowed over recent years (from19 percent in 1999 and 18 percent in 2003), againstan increase in the mean hourly pay gap for parttimework (from 1 percent in 1999 to 12 percent in2006). 13 According the recent estimates by theEqual Opportunities Commission Scotland, twentyyears will be needed to eliminate the full-time paygap and further ten years to abolish the part-timepay gap. 14Having an incidence on the pay gap is also thepersisting occupational segregation, for example,female teachers outnumber male teachers by aratio of 2.9:1 (2004/5 data). 15 An indication of thedegree of gender segregation can be obtained bylooking at the Modern Apprenticeship scheme:only 1.5 percent of modern apprentices in thechildcare field are male, whereas a mere 2.4percent of the apprentices in the field ofengineering are female. 16If one considers overall income (that is the incomeresulting from earnings but also other sources,such as pensions, investments, benefits etc.), inthe combined years 2003/04-2004/05 the malemedian net individual income was 49 percenthigher than that of females. 172.1.4 Entrepreneurship 18Women are underrepresented in comparisonto men in running businesses in Scotland,whether in self-employment, partnerships orlimited companies. The number of self-employedwomen in Scotland increased by more than a thirdbetween 1991 and 2001; however, the proportionof economically active women who are selfemployedremains below the equivalent figure formen (6:14 percent). Fewer women are selfemployedin Scotland than in England or Wales,and only the North East of England has a lower9 Scottish Executive (2006) High Level Summary of Equality Statistics. Key Trends for Scotland, Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication, p. 55, 60.10 Scottish Executive (2006) Op. Cit., p.60.11 Ibid, p. 62-64.12 Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland (2007), Gender Agenda for Scotland. Completing the revolution: the leading indicators,http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/Gender_Equality_Index_Scotland.pdf, p. 4.13 Scottish Executive (2006) Op. Cit., p. 62-64.14 Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland (2007), Op. Cit.,p.4.15 Scottish Executive (2006) Op. Cit., p. 132.16 Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland (2007), Op. Cit.,p.4.17 Scottish Executive (2006) Op. Cit., p. 259.18 Strategic Group on Women (2003) Improving the Position of Women in Scotland: An Agenda for Action, Report to the Scottish Executive, pp. 13-16.5

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandproportion of self-employed women thanScotland. However, women’s self-employment hasbeen growing quicker in Scotland than elsewherein the UK outwith London and the South East.Women’s entrepreneurship remains concentratedin traditional female sectors, and the majority ofwomen-led businesses are small, with about halfoperating part-time.On average, businesses set up by women growless, and women tend to set up businesses insectors with low entry costs. Women’s businessesin Scotland are less likely to seek finance thanbusinesses led by men in Scotland, and businessesled by men or women in the rest of the UK.Among potential women entrepreneurs in Scotland,more women than men believe they have noskills in selling, finance or IT.2.1.5 EducationIn education, girls are performing better thanboys, with more female students attaining 5 ormore Standard Grades at credit level (2004/05data). 19 In higher education, female students haveoutnumbered male students since 1996-97 (andthe gap is increasing), with female studentsaccounting for 57 percent for all higher educationstudents in 2004-05. However, there are stillsignificant differences between genders in thesubjects studied which in turn feeds occupationalsegregation. In 2003-04, 89 percent of graduatesfrom engineering and technology, 76 percent ofgraduates from mathematical sciences and 75percent of graduates from architecture were men.Conversely, 84 percent from allied medicine, 73percent from education, 72 percent fromlanguages, 71 percent from social studies and 69percent from the creative arts were women. Therehas been no change in this bias over the last tenyears. 20 Furthermore, women graduates in Scotlandearn 15 percent less than men within fiveyears of graduating.2.1.6 Political power and decision-makingWomen are under-represented at decisionmakinglevel in the public and privatesectors. In the current Scottish Parliament, womenrepresent 34.1 percent of the MSPs (44 21 over atotal of 129, a lower proportion than in theprevious Parliament where women MSPs madeup 39.5 percent of the assembly 22 ). Representationat local government level is much lower, at21.6 percent (and this figure has not changed overthe last ten years) 23 . In the Scottish Executive,women Ministers make up 31.25 percent of thecabinet (5 over a total of 16). 24 At Westminster,women make up only 15 percent of MPs representingScottish constituencies. 25 In the workplace,nearly 70 percent of managers and administratorsare men, while 74 percent of clerical andsecretarial workers are women. 262.1.7 Family ties and domestic abuseIn Scotland, women are the primary carers forthe elderly, disabled adults and children. 62percent of people providing unpaid care for elderlyor disabled adults in Scotland are women. 27Furthermore, women make up 90 percent of loneparent households 28 , which makes their positionweak in the labour market and women’s householdsparticularly vulnerable to poverty. Still todate, women spend 78 percent more time thanmen in doing housework. 2919 Scottish Executive (2006) Op. Cit., p. 124.20 Ibid, p. 103, 109.21 The Scottish Parliament (2007) Scottish Parliament Factsheet. Female MSPs Session 3, 31 August 2007.22 Strategic Group on Women (2003) Improving the Position of Women in Scotland: An Agenda for Action. Report to the Scottish Executive, p. 23.23 Electoral Reform Society (2007) Women on Scottish Councils and the impact of STV, http://www.electoralreform.org.uk/downloads/Women%20on%20Scottish%20councils%20.pdf.24 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/Scottish-Cabinet.25 Strategic Group on Women (2003), Op. Cit.,p.23.26 Ibid.27 Ibid,p.45.28 Ibid,p.47.29 http://www.eoc.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=20559.6

Setting the context: Equal opportunities in ScotlandWomen in Scotland are the main victims ofdomestic abuse. In 2005/06, police recorded45,796 incidents of domestic abuse: women werethe victim in 86.1 percent of the cases. 85.3percent of the cases were incidents where thevictim was female and the perpetrator male. 302.2 Economic development policy inScotland – the framework for localdevelopmentIn Scotland, the Scottish Executive’s Frameworkfor Economic Development in Scotland (FEDs)published in 2000, is the major reference foreconomic development policy 31 . A central objectiveis the enhancement of productivity, in whichthe Executive’s role is mainly to facilitate the abilityof the private sector to drive Scottish growth bysupporting the development of economicinfrastructure, addressing market failures inenterprise growth and promoting social andregional development and sustainability. However,in regional policy terms, the strategy places apriority on regional development, principally outof equity considerations. Three regional objectivesare underlined within the Framework: achievingbalanced economic development; taking forwardthe objective to maintain and foster the wide rangeof communities throughout Scotland; andinfluencing migration trends, particularly of youngskilled people leaving Scotland.Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and IslandsEnterprise are the key economic developmentagencies in Scotland. At the local level ScottishEnterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterpriseoperate through a network of Local EnterpriseCompanies (LECs). There are 12 in the ScottishEnterprise area and 10 in the Highlands andIslands Enterprise area. Within the framework ofFEDs, A Smart, Successful Scotland (SSS),updated in 2004, was developed initially to givestrategic direction to the enterprise networks,although it has since gained wider acceptance andendorsement as an overall enterprise strategy forthe country. 32 In addition, Highlands and IslandsEnterprise has its own (regionalised) version ofSSS (A Smart, Successful Highlands and Islands,updated in 2005).A new Regeneration Policy Statement waslaunched in 2006 33 . Although local authoritiesare recognised by the Scottish Executive as beingthe key strategic players in regeneration activityin Scotland, the Executive would like to take anincreased and more strategic role in this area. Thiswill include: bringing together private and publicsector players to maximise the impact of theiractivities and investment in specific places;focusing efforts on a small number of strategicgeographic priorities; tackling land and propertyissues which can inhibit regeneration; andensuring a joined-up approach. One aspect of thenew approach is the use of Regeneration OutcomeAgreements as the foundation for effective jointworking on regeneration by Community PlanningPartnerships.At local level, there are 32 directly elected localauthorities (Councils) in Scotland which providelocal services and receive a large part of theirfunding from the Scottish Executive. The Councilsare active in the fields of local economicdevelopment and regeneration, often working inpartnership with agencies in the public, private,community and voluntary sectors.30 Scottish Executive (2006) High Level Summary of Equality Statistics. Key Trends for Scotland, Scottish Executive National Statistics Publication, p. 220.31 Scottish Executive (2000) The Way Forward - Framework for Economic Development, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/158281/0042858.pdf.32 Scottish Executive (2001) A Smart Successful Scotland. Ambitions for the Enterprise Networks, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/158455/0042945.pdf33 Scottish Executive (2006), People and Place. Regeneration Policy Statement, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/127488/0030542.pdf.7

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotland2.3 Local developmentand gender in ScotlandSince 1999, Scotland has its own Parliament andGovernment (the Scottish Executive) withcompetence over a wide range of matters,including economic development. The power tolegislate on equal opportunities is, however,reserved to the UK Parliament (although the 1998Scotland Act gave the Scottish Parliament powerto encourage equal opportunities, particularly theobserving of the equal opportunities requirements.It also has power to impose duties onScottish public authorities and cross border publicbodies operating in Scotland).In the new, devolved institutional framework,equality featured at the top of the agenda. Forexample, in November 2000 the Scottish Executivelaunched its Equality Strategy and established anEquality Unit. At present such Unit includes aspecific team that focuses on progressing genderequality: the Gender & Mainstreaming EqualityTeam. Similarly, the Scottish Parliament has astanding Equal Opportunities Committee whichhas promoted the integration of a genderperspective in a range of policies (education,health, domestic violence, childcare, free personalcare for older people etc.). 34 Women’s representationin the Parliament has increased from 37percent in the first elections of 2000, to 39.5percent in 2003, 35 but only to go down to 34.1percent in the recent, 2007 elections. 36Scottish gender equality policies, albeit in practicemore progressive than those of other parts of theUK, are underpinned by UK legislation. Genderequality has been part of British public policy sincethe early seventies, when the Equal Pay Act (1970)and the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) wereintroduced. Since then, the most importantlegislative development in this field took place in2006 with the approval of an Equality Act. 37 Withrespect to gender equality, this Act amends the1975 Sex Discrimination Act, placing a statutoryduty on all public authorities to pay due regardto, in the undertaking of their functions, the needto eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment,and to promote the equality of opportunitybetween men and women. 38 This is now knownas the “Gender Equality Duty” (GED) which cameinto force across Great Britain on 6 April 2007.The Equality Act introduced provisions to tacklediscrimination on a plurality of levels. On the onehand, it introduced new requirements to eliminatediscrimination based on religion or other beliefs,on sexual orientation, on gender and on disability;and, on the other, it reformed the institutionalarrangements in place for the promotion of nondiscriminationpolicies, by dissolving the EqualOpportunities Commission, the Commission forRacial Equality and the Disability RightsCommission and attributing their functions to asingle Commission, the Commission for Equalityand Human Rights. 39With specific reference to gender equality, therationale for the introduction of the GenderEquality Duty was based on the fact that eventhirty years after the introduction of the SexDiscrimination Act, women across the UKexperience varied forms of discrimination andgender inequality persists. One of the reasons forthis was believed to be the difficulty of enforcingthe Sex Discrimination Act, which was based onthe rights of individuals not to be discriminatedagainst. For this reason, the Gender Equality Duty34 Strategic Group on Women (2003) Improving the position of women in Scotland: an agenda for action, November 2003, p. 27. The report also notices that the first Act thatwas put forward by a Parliamentary Committee in the Scottish Parliament was the 2001 Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act, which includes measures to protect womenfrom the violence of partners and former partners.35 Ibid.36 The Scottish Parliament (2007) Scottish Parliament Factsheet. Female MSPs Session 3, 31 August 2007.37 http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts2006/ukpga_20060003_en.pdf.38 EOC (2006) Gender Equality Duty Draft Code of Practice. Scotland, February 2006, p. 5.39 http://www.cehr.org.uk/.8

Setting the context: Equal opportunities in Scotlandreverses the perspective, by imposing “the onuson organisations to promote equality, rather thanon individuals to highlight discrimination” 40 .Inpractice, the Duty outlines a set of duties - ageneral duty to advance gender equality thatapplies to all public authorities, and a set of whatare called “specific duties” (i.e. more detailedrequirements) which are incumbent on listedpublic authorities to enable them to better performthe general duty. 41The general duty applies to all public authoritiesand to private actors in charge of the delivery ofpublic services. These are required “to identifyand tackle discrimination, to prevent harassment,and to ensure that their work promotes equalitybetween men and women” 42 . It is enforced byjudicial review and by the Commission for Equalityand Human Rights which will have the power toissue compliance notices to public authoritiesfound to be in breach of the Duty and to take theseto court.The specific duties - imposed on Scottish publicauthorities (i.e. those that are devolved) byScottish Ministers through secondary legislation- are slightly different than those specific dutiesimposed on similar bodies in England, Wales andGB-wide bodies. In Scotland, devolved publicauthorities with more than 150 full time staff orequivalent are required to publish an equal paystatement and to report on that statement everythree years (including issues such as promotion,rewards and segregation). In addition, ScottishMinisters are subject to a duty to set out “priorityareas” for the progression of equality ofopportunity between women and men. The otherspecific duties that are required for listedauthorities in Scotland are very similar to thoseincumbent on GB, English and Welsh bodies andinclude the requirement to: (i) publish a genderequality scheme with the identification of thespecific gender equality goals and actions to meetthem; (ii) monitor and review of progress towardsthese goals; (iii) review the scheme (every threeyears); (iv) undertake gender impact assessmentfor all new legislation and new policy developments.43Public authorities are guided by what is called aScottish Code of Practice that was developed ina consultative process by the Equal OpportunitiesCommission Scotland (with the involvement of anAdvisory Board and consultations in Glasgow,Dundee, Edinburgh and Inverness). This statutoryCode provides practical guidance to publicauthorities on how to meet their legal requirementsunder the Gender Equality Duty. The keymilestones in the implementation of the Duty inScotland are: listed public sector bodies will haveto produce their Gender Equality Scheme by 29June 2007; all organisations with more than 150staff will have to publish their Equal Pay Statementby 28 September 2007; and Scottish Ministerswill have to report on progress in the “priorityareas” in 2010.40 http://www.eoc.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=18302&theme=print. It should be noted that there are also similar duties with respect to race and disability (race and disabilityare not covered by the Equality Act; these duties were set out through separate pieces of legislation).41 R. Fitzgerald and A. McKay (2006) Gender equality and work in Scotland: A review of the evidence base and the salient issues. Final report, May 2006, 3.42 EOC (2006) Gender Equality Duty Draft Code of Practice. Scotland, February 2006, p. 6.43 Ibid,p.7.9

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotland3.Analysis of good practice examplesThis section of the report deals with theillustration of the seven good practiceexamples analysed in detail through fieldresearch.After an initial desk-research scrutiny ofpossible case study projects, the following wereselected for in depth analysis:• Close the Gap, an Equal co-funded partnershipwhose work has focused on raising awarenesson the gender pay gap and on promotingpositive action to reduce it;• The Women’s Fund for Scotland, a Fundproviding grants for projects that empowerwomen and improve the lives of Scottishwomen and girls;• Engendering Policy, an Equal co-funded projectin South Lanarkshire whose goal is to sensitiselocal regeneration policy to gender issues;• Advancing Women’s Employability (AWE),another Equal co-funded project focusing onthe employability of older women;• Work-Life Balance (WLB), an Equal co-fundedinitiative centred on the understanding andawareness-raising of the benefits of flexibleworking patterns in micro and small andmedium-sized firms;• Women into Business (WiB), an umbrellaproject managed by Scottish Enterprise (theScottish economic development agency) tosupport women start-ups and to improve thegrowth potential of female-led businesses; and,• Women into Enterprise (WiE), a project run byGlasgow City Council and co-funded by the2000-06 Western Scotland Objective 2 SPD, tosupport women to create or expand a businesswith innovation and growth potential.The chosen projects were selected to represent awide range of experiences across Scotland andare diverse in terms of scope (mainstreaming ordirect support to women’s involvement in localeconomic development); funding sources(domestic or European); territorial focus (Scottishor local/focused), as illustrated in Table 1 below.The projects are also very diverse with respect totheir goals, beneficiaries and implementationapproaches, as will emerge from the analysis ofeach good practice. The heterogeneity of theselected projects is intended to be representativeof the wide range of instruments that exists inScotland for the support of equality betweenwomen and men, and, more specifically, for theintegration of women in local development.The description of each project or programme inthe sections which follow is structured as follows:• History and resources10

Analysis of good practice examplesTABLE 1Good practice examples• Objectives, beneficiaries and territorialcoverage• Operational aspects• Quantitative and qualitative results• Lessons learned, elements of innovation andtransferability.3.1 Close the gap3.1.1 History of the project and resourcesThe project started from work at the University ofthe Highlands and Islands on the pay gap in theregion. This institution then became the leadpartner of the Equal Development Partnership“Close the Gap” (CtG). Other partners were theScottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), the EqualOpportunities Commission (EOC), the ScottishExecutive, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands andIslands Enterprise and Fair Play (a gender equalitynetwork). The project development phase tookplace in 2001, and the project ran from 2002 to theend of 2005, with funding from the Equal CI. Thedevelopment of the project stemmed from awarenessof how significant the pay gap is throughoutScotland and of how detrimental it is not just towomen but to the economy and the society as awhole. Box 1 synthesises some of the main issuesaround the gender pay gap in Scotland.After this period, the Scottish Executive decidedto continue to support the project by funding costsfor staff and overheads. Additional funding wasalso obtained from Scottish Enterprise and theEOC. The STUC contributes in terms of work.The project can be divided into several distinctphases:• Phase I ran over the period 2001-2005, withfunding from the Equal CI;• Phase II ran over the period from the start of2006 to the end of 2007, with funding fromseveral partners (but not all the partners thatwere in Phase I, rather only the ScottishExecutive, Scottish Enterprise, EOC and STUC);• There might be a Phase III, but this will bedecided only after the forthcoming ScottishParliament elections in May 2007.11

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandBOX 1The gender pay gap in ScotlandBased on 2006 figures, there is in Scotland a 14 percent gap between men’s and women’s full-timehourly rates, and a 35 percent gap when one compares women’s part time hourly rate to men’s fulltime hourly rates. This is one of the causes of women and children’s higher levels of poverty, ofwomen’s poverty after they retire, and it also impacts on household earnings more generally. At theroots of this pay gap are the following main factors:• Discrimination - pay systems often discriminate against women by paying them less forwork that is the same, similar or of the same value as that of male colleagues. The wayreward policies are implemented (e.g. bonuses, performance related awards etc.); theaccess to training opportunities and to high-paid shift or overtime work; the ways in whichjob evaluation schemes are handled are further factors that contribute to pay discrimination.• Job segregation – the clustering of women in jobs perceived as “female occupations” andthat are also lower paid jobs (e.g. nursing, caring, clerical, cleaning, catering, retail)contributes to the lower earnings of women compared to men.• The Glass Ceiling – women are less likely than men to access senior level positions withinorganisations. This is due to stereotypical assumptions about women’s capacities; toorganisational cultures that typically reward male attitudes; and, to the rigidity of workingarrangements especially at senior levels (e.g. long-hours, ‘presenteeism’, attendance tocorporate social functions etc.) that penalise women since they need to balance work andfamily responsibilities.• Caring responsibilities – women often bear the burden of family responsibilities, by lookingafter children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled in the family. The rigidity of currentemployment systems often induces women to opt for part-time work which both in theshort and long term ends up lowering their pay and pension prospects (even if they returnto full-time work).Source: http://www.closethegap.org.uk/3.1.2 Objectives, beneficiaries and territorialcoverageThe project has the key objective of raisingawareness of the pay gap existing in Scotland,to provide support for the steps that can be takento improve the situation, and to promote positiveaction to narrow the pay gap. In both Phases I andII, the project worked with those who have thecapacity to influence the pay gap (i.e. employers,policy-makers, economic development agencies)and with those who are on the recipient side ofthe pay gap (trade unions). For the latter, however,the decision was taken not to work withindividuals, on single cases, as this would gobeyond the scope of the project and make thework unmanageable 44 . CtG has works with threemain types of actors: private companies, tradeunions and the public sector, with a range ofdifferent activities designed to have a positiveimpact on the gender pay gap.44 In addition, the project partners are not lawyers and they would need very detailed legal knowledge to handle case work, which would be likely to be context/sector specificetc.12

Analysis of good practice examples3.1.3 Operational aspectsThe project has entailed a very wide spectrum ofactivities. Generally, Phase I was more devotedto the development of methodologies to addressthe pay gap, whereas Phase II was more focusedon the activities that had worked well in Phase I.In more detail, the activities carried out in PhaseI included:• The delivery of training for Scottish Enterprisestaff to look at issues of job segregation, forexample for career advisors within theEnterprise network (who tend to work withschools 14 year olds and older women returningto work);• The development of the project’s website(http://www.closethegap.org.uk/default.asp)and the launch of a high profile advertisingcampaign, called “What century is this?”;• The development of tools for employers andtrade union representatives such as: A guide for employers on pay review, the“Equal Pay Review Kit” produced in 2002; aspecific guide for small businesses “EqualPay, Fair Pay” produced in 2003; and, in2005, a workbook on how to compare jobs,“Different but Equal. Equal Value: a guideto comparing jobs”. A toolkit for trade union representatives“Bargaining for Equal Pay” produced in2005. As a lot of trade union representativeslack a legal background, the toolkit providessimple, clear guidance on the legislation, onhow to identify discrimination, on how tocarry out equal pay reviews and jobevaluations, and on how to bargain for equalpay. The toolkit includes a checklist fornegotiators and sample letters to employers. A toolkit for Higher Education and FurtherEducation student officers. The StudentUnion expressed interest in running an EqualPay campaign on campuses. For thispurpose a guide was developed in 2005 forstudent officers to explain what the genderpay gap consists of, how it affects studentsand how to plan and conduct an awarenessraising campaign on campus.These guides and toolkits are all available fromthe CtG website.• The development of a number of case studies;• Research on the pay gap in the Highlands &Islands. This specific piece of research wascarried out because of the more rural settingof this region and the need to understand thespecific issues that contribute, in thisenvironment, to the pay gap as well as theappropriate policy responses (all of which aredifferent than in Lowland Scotland);• The delivery of different types of training: Undergraduate and post-graduate modulesfor students in higher and further education; The creation of on-line training modules forScottish Enterprise staff, that can beaccessed in a flexible way (although thetraining was not made compulsory); and The development of various week-endschools in all parts of Scotland for tradeunion representatives. Overall c. 100 peoplewere trained all over Scotland with 12-15persons participating in each event;• The provision of yearly up-dates on legalchanges, case law, examples of good practiceetc. for TU representatives (which arecommissioned from specialist lawyers).In Phase II there has been more focus on keypriority areas, with activities such as:• Work with selected large private sectororganisations, especially in the finance sector13

Analysis of good practice examples3.1.5 Lessons learned, elements ofinnovation and transferabilityApart from a similar initiative in Wales (Closingthe Pay Gap) developed by EOC Wales, WelshTUC and the Welsh Assembly, there have not beensimilar initiatives in the rest of the UK. The projectas a whole has been rather innovative in itself.More specifically, according to the research carriedout, there are various positive and innovativeelements to the project. Foremost has been thecapacity of the project, through the partnershipbasedapproach, to bridge together differentactors which were coming to the project from verydifferent angles. This allowed the gaining of a morecomprehensive insight on the problem. Related,the project enabled the actors involved to realisemore fully how complex an issue the pay gap isand how messages to be effectively conveyedneed to be carefully segmented. For example, thepublicity campaign was probably too generic andnot focused enough at the start.Another positive element of the Close the Gapproject has been the innovative character of themethodologies developed. The toolkits, forexample, were found to be extremely useful inthat they translated very complex issues - oftenperceived as unmanageable - into practical andclear guidance on both the underlying causes ofthe pay gap and the specific steps that can betaken to reduce it.The involvement of the Scottish Executive in theproject and in the Steering Group was alsoconsidered extremely positive, because thisfacilitated the creation of contacts with areas ofthe Executive other than the Equality Unit, andallowed the project to have an unofficial voice andinvolvement in policy formulation. It also ensuredthe participation of high profile representativesof the Executive at the events organised by CtG,raising the profile of the programme, and, moregenerally, allowing lobbying more for the issue ofequal pay. On the other hand, the involvement ofthe Executive and of the other partners in theproject also meant that when responding toconsultations on policies (e.g. recently on theScience Strategy) the views expressed have to becarefully balanced to reflect the differing views ofall project partners.Thinking of Italy, the Close the Gap project couldbe a model of intervention in a context where theawareness on the gender pay gap is also extremelylow. Approaching this issue by pulling togethergovernment representatives, economicdevelopment agencies, trade unions andemployers representatives is perhaps the maininnovative element of the CtG project and onewhich could also be beneficial in an Italian context(or indeed elsewhere).One lesson learnt by the Close the Gap projectduring phase I has been that it would be beneficialto work more on the broader set of humanresources issues that can influence the pay gap:e.g. work-life-balance issues, reward policies,flexible working etc.. One challenge with this isthat knowledge tends to be compartmentalised,i.e. experts on equal opportunities do not knowmuch about human resources, and humanresource management are often not gearedtowards equal opportunities, and more work couldbe made to integrate the two approaches. This isbeing done in phase II of Close the Gap. Clearly,this type of work would also be beneficial incontexts other than Scotland.This having been said, in Scotland, and in the UKmore generally, the policy context is one of apersistent low profile for the pay gap issue. Arecently conducted review of the causes of thegender pay and opportunities gap by the Womenand Work Commission (a high profile UKCommission of experts appointed by the thenPrime Minister, Tony Blair) 45 , failed to make thepay reviews mandatory and it is very difficult toinfluence practices when no demands can bemade. With the entrance in to force of the GenderDuty, however, things should improve. As has beenmentioned, in Scotland the Gender Equality Dutyexplicitly requires public authorities with morethan 150 full time staff or equivalent to publish anequal pay statement that sets out that public15

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandauthority’s policy on equal pay. Those authoritieswill have to report on the delivery of that policyevery three years. Furthermore, all those publicauthorities that are required to publish genderequality schemes must consider whether there isa need to include an objective in their scheme thataddresses equal pay. If public authorities choosenot to include action on equal pay, they mustexplain why.3.2 Women’s Fund for Scotland3.2.1 History of the Fund and resourcesThe Women’s Fund for Scotland was set up in2002 and is managed by the ScottishCommunity Foundation (SCF), a registered charityset up in 1996 which is also in charge of a numberof other funds. Indeed, the creation of theWomen’s Fund stemmed from the high number ofwomen’s project applications that were receivedunder the other funds managed by the SCF. Theidea of a dedicated fund was therefore developedand presented to the Equality Team of the ScottishExecutive, which allocated an initial amount of£150,000 to the establishment of a new Women’sFund and cooperated with SCF to define itsoperational procedures. To date, the ScottishExecutive has supplied to the Fund a total of£600,000. Occasionally, other funding streamshave topped up this amount of resources, forexample:• In 2005, Communities Scotland contributed anadditional £28,000 as an ad hoc sponsorship.It also funded an evaluation of the impacts ofthe Fund (also carried out in 2005 46 );• Two private (anonymous) contributors haveprovided a considerable amount of funding viadonations;• Further funding is obtained through ad hocfund-raising events which are organisedoccasionally. For example, the “Handbagevent”, when famous people donated theirhandbags and these were auctioned at a charityevent. This raised quite a significant amount offunding (even though perhaps not as much asit would have in other, wealthier, parts of theUK), but also contributed to raising awarenesson the activities of the Fund;• Additionally, the SCF holds a fund-raiser everyyear – the Caledonian Challenge – and parts ofthe income generated through this event is alsodestined to the Women’s Fund 47 .On average, the annual dedicated budget forprojects has been of around £140,000. The CSFretains 8 percent of the resources of the Fund asa management fee to cover its operational costs.The average grant is in the region of £1,500.Looking to the future, thinking on future fundingopportunities is being developed by the Fund’sAdvisory Board which includes 12 representativesfrom all parts of Scotland. Some of the resourcesof the Fund have been invested in endowments,but additionally the Advisory Board and SCF havelinked with “Booby Birds” 48 , in a fundraiser eventwhich will raise funding partly for Breast CancerResearch (one of the members of the Booby Birdshas been affected by breast cancer) and partly tothe Women’s Fund.45 Women and Work Commission (2006) Shaping a Fairer Future. The work of the Commission and its report have been subject to criticism in Scotland, both because noScottish representative was part of the Commission despite the devolved nature of the issues considered, and because of the blandness of the report’s recommendations.On the other hand, it should be mentioned that representatives from the Commission went to Scotland to hear the views of women in Scotland and to view projects whichworked with women. Additionally, it should also be noticed that the Scottish Executive supported an organisation called Fair Play Scotland to feed in Scotland’s views to thedeliberations of the Women and Work Commission.46 S. Hamilton, Evaluating Impact: Assessing Community Benefit. Evaluation of the Women’s Fund for Scotland, Final Draft Report, September 2005 (evaluation funded byCommunities Scotland, on behalf of SCF).47 This entails walking the Highland Way (Fort William to Loch Lomond, 54 miles) in 24 hours. Participants raise a minimum sponsorship of £500 and there are also corporatedonors, for example the Royal Bank of Scotland participates every year and sees this event as a team-building exercise. This event generates c. £1 million a year.16

Analysis of good practice examples3.2.2 Objectives, beneficiaries and territorialcoverageThe objectives of the Fund are to finance projectsthat support the empowerment of women andthat improve the lives of women and girls inScotland. In particular, funding aims to supportwomen in facing challenges such as thoseassociated with disability, ethnicity, singleparenthood, ill health, age, domestic abuse andothers. It does so by building capacity in smallcommunity grass-roots organisations, to enablethem to empower women and to tackle disadvantage,and for them to be able to contributeto and enhance the equality prospects in the localcommunities. Additionally, the Fund sets out toraise the profile of International Women Day (8March), supporting events for the celebration ofthis day.Eligible beneficiaries are charities and communityorganisations: organisations predominantly runby and for women, and organisations with womenonlyprojects, which seek to support and empowerwomen. Individuals are not eligible. This is inkeeping with the other schemes managed by SCF,but is also in line with the aim of achieving a higherimpact with limited resources (e.g. fundingactivities for a group of 50 women achieves ahigher impact than funding one woman), as wellas allowing them to limit the number of applicationsreceived. In addition, statutory organisationsare not eligible and this is due to thedesire to avoid the possibility of funding beingmonopolised by the local authorities.The Fund applies across Scotland; however,projects which have a local territorial scope arefavoured. There are no pre-established reservesfor the different parts of Scotland. Attempts aremade to maintain a territorial balance throughoutScotland by giving priority to projects from areaswhich have been less active in the utilisation ofthe Fund. This having been said, the main focusof project selection is on the quality/merit of theproposed projects rather on their territory ofreference. All in, in practice the majority of projectscomes from the main cities: Glasgow, Edinburghand, to a lesser extent, Aberdeen.3.2.3 Operational aspectsThe funding is intended to support projects thatcontribute to the regeneration or developmentof an area, for example:• Enhancing local facilities, for the purpose ofencouraging women who experience discrimination,disadvantage, or live in areas of deprivationto live or work within their local community;• Benefiting local women who have particularneeds because of their gender, age, sexualorientation, disability or race;• Assisting women to make use of local facilitiesand opportunities for education, training oremployment purposes;• Promoting a safe and crime free environmentfor women in their communities.Additionally, projects that celebrate InternationalWomen’s day are also financed. In this latter case,the fund can: finance costs for the hire of premisesfor the events; contribute towards coordinatorcosts to establish a programme of events in aspecific geographical area; publicity costs;childcare provision/carer costs; translation/-interpreting costs and costs for guest speakers(within reasonable limits); catering requirements;and for the evaluation of events.The general award scheme of the Fund, like otherfunds managed by the SCF, provides two types of48 The Booby Bird is a bird famous for its dives. The event took this name to play with the double-meaning of the word ‘booby’. The event – which will take place on 8 September2007 - will entail 20 women sky-diving, jumping from a plane over St. Andrews. Each one of the 20 women has committed to raise £20,000 to do the jump. More informationon this fund raiser can be obtained from www.boobybirds.co.uk.17

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandgrants – Small Grants (up to £1,000) and MainGrants (between £1,001 and £5,000). The selectionprocedures are outlined in the Figure 2, and arethe same as for other Funds managed by the SCF.There are two parallel procedures in place, forSmall and Main Grants:• Small Grants are appraised internally by SCFand generally entail an appraisal process of amaximum of 6 weeks from the receipt of theapplication to the notification of the decisionof the grant’s approval;• Main Grants are subject to more detailedscrutiny and generally entail a process takingup to three months. A central element of theselection process for Main Grants is theinvolvement of voluntary assessors in theappraisal of applications.At present the SCF is supported by around 60volunteers. These are trained regularly (requirementswould be of training twice a year, the SCForganises training events more often than this).Most volunteers come from the voluntary sector(e.g. are retired from a third sector organisation)or are past applicants (giving them a good insightinto how the Fund works). Application forms aresent to the volunteer assessors and normally thesereturn the forms within 6 weeks. Assessors carryout a telephone interview (of generally half anhour to an hour) with the project sponsor. Thisallows the application form to be kept streamlinedand simple, encouraging applications. Assessorscan recommend that the project be funded, butwith a lower level of funding than the applicanthad originally requested (while maintaining theforecast level of impact to be achieved).For Main Grants, after an initial assessment ofproposals by the assessors, projects are selectedby a SCF Grants Committee that meets four timesa year. The management of the Fund is a rollingprogramme: every year applications are receivedup to 15 December, but the SCF Grants Committeethat selects projects meets four times a year. Aquarter of the budget is attributed to each threemonthlyperiod and the selection process is basedon an assessment of the merits of each project asthey relate to the aims of the Fund itself. If aproject is unsuccessful, it can immediately reapplyfor funding.Projects are selected based on the followingcriteria:• Competence of the proposing organisation todeliver the project (scoring 1 to 5);• Strength of need for support (1 to 5);• Impact of the project on the organisation andon the beneficiaries (1 to 5).These seem quite generic criteria, but they allowtargeting the funds effectively and are in line withthe relatively small scale of the projects. When theeligible applications are more than the amount ofavailable funding, priority is given to projects thatcome from local deprivation areas across Scotland.18

Analysis of good practice examplesFIGURE 2The Scottish Community Foundation Project Selection and Grant Awarding ProcessSource: Scottish Community Foundation.3.2.4 Quantitative and qualitative resultsOver the years 2002-03 to 2004-05, the Fundsupported 157 projects under the generalaward scheme and 115 projects for InternationalWomen’s Day, paying out a total of £424,000. 493.2.5 Lessons learned, elements ofinnovation and transferabilityThe Fund is certainly innovative, in the sensethat it is one of a kind and no other similarinitiatives exist in Scotland (and probably in therest of the UK). The Fund is considered to havebeen extremely successful so far in meeting itsobjectives. A recently conducted evaluationconcluded that over the period 2002-2005, thefund had met its goals regarding its capacity to:reach a wide spectrum of beneficiary groups;finance a very diversified range of types of projectsand activities; attract new types of applicants eachyear; and cover different types of areas across the49 S. Hamilton, Op. Cit.,p.5.19

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandwhole of Scotland (even though most grants areby nature concentrated in the main cities) 50 .The Fund presents a number of strengths andinnovative aspects:• First, the fact that the Fund is managed by aninstitution with extensive experience with themanagement of similar projects ensuresefficiency, rigour and transparency;• Second, part of the resources of the Fund areinvested in endowments, so as to leave a legacyand ensure durability across time;• Third, the Fund has levered significantly onpublic resources with its active fund-raisingpolicies and seeking private donations on anon-going basis;• Fourth, the simplicity of the Fund makes itappealing to a wide range of groups andprojects, in line with the goals of the instrument.In addition, from the point of view of applicants,the Fund presents a number of strengths:• The above-mentioned flexibility means that awide range of projects can be put forward forfunding;• Grants are administered through a rigorous andyet client-friendly application and selectionprocess. The burden on project applicants iskept to a minimum with a simple and focusedapplication process. Supplementary informationfor the appraisal is obtained via a telephoneinterview, keeping the process moreinformal and time-efficient. This is in line withthe type of groups that the Fund intends toattract, groups that all too often would lack thecapacity to prepare more extensive applicationdocuments;• The certainty over the timetable of selectionprocedures and the simplicity of post-fundingrequirements (applicants have to simply submita project report) are also positive elements ofthe fund from an applicant’s point of view.From the point of view of the SCF, on the otherhand:• The project selection process includes the initialscrutiny of applications by voluntary assessorswho carry out this work in their homes(applications and supporting documentationis sent to them), thus relieving the SCF – whichis a small organisation – of a lot of theadministrative burden associated with themanagement of the fund;• The fact that individuals are not eligible meansthat the grants deliver a higher impact, asfunding activities for a group of 50 womenachieves higher impact than funding one singlewoman. It also ensures, at the same time, thatthe number of applications received is manageable;• The role of the Advisory Board has beenextremely valuable too. The board has anadvisory capacity and is not involved in theselection of projects. However, as the boardmembers come from all over Scotland, theirinput has been valuable to ensure that the Fundresponds to needs of girls and womenthroughout Scotland;• The fact that there are no prohibitions withcumulating the award from the Fund with othergrants often contributes to maximise theimpacts of grants, as the Fund’s awards have50 S. Hamilton (2005) Op. Cit., p. 15.20

Analysis of good practice examplesoften acted as a catalyst for further projects’funding from other sources (this is also in linewith the general goals of the Fund).In conclusion, the fund could easily be reproducedin Italy or other contexts, especially thanks to itsprocedural simplicity. However, do institutes suchas Community Foundations exist in Italy? 51 Toreproduce the experience in Italy one would needto think carefully of the types of institutions whichcould both be legally permitted to manage a fundand have an interest in women’s development.The Fund has a local territorial vocation, and assuch its implementation in an Italian context couldusefully be at the regional level (or even subregional,e.g. provincial).3.3.2 Objectives, beneficiaries and territorialcoverageThe project aims to maximise the positive impactof regeneration activities on the lives of womenand men in South Lanarkshire living in poverty (asdetermined by the Scottish Executive’s data ondeprivation rankings). This is being done by takinga gender perspective on or ‘gender mainstreaming’areas of regeneration work and disseminating thelearning and benefits. Using the expertise of localpolicy makers and practitioners, it aims to ‘buildgender considerations into regeneration activitiesto enhance the potential for women and men indeprived communities to build ‘sustainablelivelihoods’ and achieve a decent standard ofliving’ 52 .There are two strands to the project:3.3 Engendering policy3.3.1 History of the project and resourcesThe Engendering Policy project was launched in2005 as a collaborative pilot project betweenOxfam (a charity), South Lanarkshire Council (alocal authority), Genderwise (a DevelopmentPartnership funded under the Equal CommunityInitiative), Glasgow Caledonian University andEngender (a NGO dealing with gender issues).Project costs (including part of the core costs ofthe Equal Development Partnership) amount to£155,500. Half of this total comes from the EqualCI, with the rest being contributed by the partners.The salary of the Project Officer is paid from thisbudget, while the council provides office space,and Engender fund their own (training) activities.The project was intended to run for two years untilJune 2007. However, the Project Officer post wasnot filled until November 2005, compressingproject activities into a 18-month period.• A pilot programme within South LanarkshireCouncil to raise awareness of and trial a gendermainstreaming programme;• Training for women in the community(voluntary/community sector) to enable themto make their voice heard in the politicalprocess.The theme chosen was ‘the world of paid work’,helping to link the priorities of Oxfam and the localpartners.As might be expected for a pilot project, the aimsand objectives have altered since the programmelaunch. In particular, it was found that there wasa mismatch between the two project strands, withthe training aspect of the programme being lessfocused on regeneration. The project beneficiariesare the Council employees – and, ultimately, thepeople in the area who are involved in theCouncil’s programmes and services.51 Across the UK there are about 70 Community Foundations. The Scottish Community Foundation is the only one in Scotland.52 Louise Falconer (2006) Because Lassies Like Weans. Progress Report of the Engendering Policy Project April-December 2006, Interim Progress Report for Project Partners.21

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotland3.3.3 Operational aspectsThe Project Officer is accommodated in the localauthority offices. This is a new area ofinvolvement for the Council, so she has taken anincremental approach, first of all getting to knowthe relevant people and structures, and mappingsystems and processes. This enabled her to gainan understanding of how things work at presentand gain knowledge and credibility. The projectwork revealed that there are four main areas wheregender inequality is evident in the context of alocal labour market with areas of deprivation: workexperience and careers advice; employmenttraining; unemployment and economic inactivity;and employment patterns and pay.The Project Officer was able to identify fiveprogrammes in the employment field which hadreceived regeneration funding, and where therewas potential for gender mainstreaming practicesto be introduced (Routes to Work South; Pride ofPlace; What’s with Work; Work Experience; andSkill Force). She then approached the programmemanagers to explain her aims, and secure theircooperation.Specific mainstreaming activities carried out by Project Officer within selected programmes- Observing or assisting with client interviews- Interviews with service providers, programme participants, teachers and school pupils- Provision of training and advice- Data analysis, analysis of structures, desk research- Ongoing discussions and meetings with programme managers and sub-contractors- Conducting focus group discussions- Design and implementation of questionnaires- Analysis of project selection processesWithin the selected five programmes, the ProjectOfficer examined available data, systems andnational trends, and carried out interviews anddesk research. She was then able to develop amethodology for mainstreaming gender into thesekey employment programmes, with a series ofspecific recommendations. To implement these,the project officer must now work in partnershipwith Council managers to meet her targets, tomeet their own targets, and to improve theservices being provided.Example of Recommendations made by the Project OfficerRoutes to Work South (RTWS) is a local employment service that provides clients with information,advice and practical support on taking steps into work. The project officer made the followingrecommendations for possible changes to the programme to progress gender equity goals:22

Analysis of good practice examples- Deliver a workshop session with client advisers on poverty, work and gender equalityissues;- Develop, in partnership with client advisers a ‘tool’ to help them positively influence theirclient’s job choices and aspirations, specifically from the perspective of securing a decent,sustainable standard of living;- Have the client advisers ask their clients a series of questions to determine whetherstereotypes about what jobs men/ women can do are preventing those clients from findingappropriate, sustainable work;- Encourage RTWS managers to provide clear leadership on gender equality issues, and becommitted to ensuring that their services do not perpetuate stereotypes of inequalitieswhich could impact negatively on the opportunities available to their clients;- Monitor and evaluate the job/ training destinations of men and women and draw linkagesto RTWS interventions;- Encourage employment liaison staff to work with employers to broaden their notions of‘suitable’ candidates where such relate to gender stereotypes or inequalities.The project is now at the point where the initialawareness raising (within the Council) has beendone, and concrete recommendations can bemade on the structural changes required.Dissemination and publicity will be carried outthrough a major conference in Glasgow in May2007; in addition, information will bedisseminated through Oxfam and internallythrough the Council.During the final six months of the project, theproject Officer will be working to mainstream andsustain learning from the project, throughactivities such as:• disaggregating key local developmentindicators and targets by gender;• reviewing current budget monitoring processesto ensure that project data is disaggregated bygender and is then analysed;• handing over specific gender mainstreamedprojects to regeneration development workers,to include a three-month mentoring period ofmentoring by the Project Officer;• creating entries on relevant websites providinginformation, resources and contact detailsabout the project;• exploring ways of embedding the project’s workmore systematically into the Council’sregeneration work; and• producing leaflets and tools to assist officers,practitioners and service providers to considergender in their daily work, and to think moresystematically about gender and poverty in thedesign and delivery of their services.3.3.4 Quantitative and qualitative results ofthe projectAs the project beneficiaries are the Councilofficers, it is very difficult to measure impact.While there are already some visible changes asa result of the project (e.g. the RegenerationOutcome Agreement monitoring forms are now23

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlanddisaggregated by sex), it is likely that there havebeen other changes which have not been directlycredited to the project. Certainly, the level ofawareness of the issues has increased in therelevant Council offices. In addition, the project isbeing reproduced in two other areas in Scotland.Feedback from regeneration staff within theCouncil has revealed that the opportunity to ‘stepback’ from their practice and question establishedprocedures has been valued, and that the projectis considered to be useful in improving existingpractice, as well as informing the design of newprogrammes.3.3.5 Lessons learned, elements ofinnovation and transferabilityThis project is very innovative, in that there arefew other projects attempting to bridge the gapbetween policy and practice. The project aims toprovide regeneration practitioners with evidencethat change is possible, cost-neutral, and can helpprovide a better service to the communities theyserve. The project has married the high-level andoften academic discussions on gender andregeneration with the practical day-to-dayapproach to tackling deprivation taken by theCouncil.As with every project, much depends on thecommitment and enthusiasm of the ProjectOfficer/team. Where a project involves thedissemination of new practices within anorganisation, it also depends on the ‘buy-in’ ofkey staff at senior levels. This is particularlyimportant now that the project is at the stagewhere, to effect a lasting impact, structural andsystemic changes are required. Having a strongproject advocate within the host organisation isvery helpful.Locating the Project Officer within the localauthority offices (but outside the specialist EqualOpportunities Unit) has been particularlybeneficial, as this has enabled her to gain morecredibility than would have otherwise been thecase. ‘Ghettoisation’ of gender as a specialist issuecan result in it not being seen as part of colleaguesand partners’ day-to-day jobs. Being even moreintegrated within Council processes would havehelped this further. The Project Officer identifiedthat instead of building capacity, a dependencyon the ‘gender specialist’ can develop – as gendermainstreaming is not usually the main priority ofother staff.The Project Officer has also found that local(smaller) organisations are more responsive tonew ideas and change.3.4 Advancing WomenEmployability (AWE)3.4.1 History of the project and resourcesThe Advancing Women’s Employability pilotproject (AWE) is led by the Senior StudiesInstitute at the University of Strathclyde inGlasgow, in partnership with Genderwise (anEQUAL CI Development Partnership), LochaberCollege and South Lanarkshire Council (a localauthority). The project was launched in mid-2005and runs for 18 months until June 2007. Fundingoptions for continuing the project are currentlybeing explored.The Senior Studies Institute had previously beeninvolved in another EQUAL project (SWAN –Scottish What Life Adaptability Network) and thisformed the basis for the AWE project. SWANfocused on inclusion and work-life balance issuesrelating to older workers, and on the benefits tocompanies of employing older workers. From thepart-time work issues identified, it emerged thatthe large majority of part-time workers werewomen with caring responsibilities (e.g. forgrandchildren, partners, parents). Another issuethat emerged was that many of the older womenwere returners to work after a break (e.g. to lookafter children), but once they returned to workthey were employed at lower levels than they hadleft and for which they were qualified - many wereemployed in retail, secretarial jobs, clerical/24

Analysis of good practice examplesadministrative works often well below their qualificationlevels. These factors, compounded bythe general pay gap which becomes even moresignificant as women and men age (e.g. in thecategory 45-55 years of age, men earn on average£120 more than women a week in Scotland), andthe pension issue which means that women oftenhave to work more years to compensate for thecareer breaks to look after children, led to thedesign of the AWE project.The programme budget is £175,000, of which halfwas contributed by EQUAL (ESF), most of thesecond half by the University of Strathclyde and asmall part by South Lanarkshire Council.3.4.2 Objectives, beneficiaries and territorialcoverageThe AWE project aims to develop a range ofinnovative methods to engage and supportolder women in developing new careers in higherlevel jobs, particularly in growth areas of the localand Scottish economy. The specific goals of theproject are to help employers understand thebusiness case for improving gender equality; tochange how older women view their employmentpotential; and to undertake robust field testing/comparisonbetween rural and urbansettings. Beneficiaries of the project are c. 120women aged 50+ and three industry sectors. Theprogramme focuses on three areas located in theWest of Scotland - Lochaber, Glasgow and Lanarkshire.3.4.3 Operational aspectsThe project has been designed with three maincomponents:1) AWE Learning Programme – for women 50+,either in employment (but wishing to advance orchange their career) or not in employment, helpingthem re-evaluate career options, explore theirpotential and develop new skills leading toemployment. This part of the project entailed 12weeks of training, with one 2.5 hours session perweek (total 30 hours). The teaching was done inclassroom style, with lessons by differentteachers/speakers on topics such as learningstyles (e.g. to encourage the women to becomelifelong learners), motivation, confidence building,as well as IT skills etc.2) Pathfinder Programme – helping employersunderstand and make the business case forimproving equality. This part of the projecttargeted three industries that, based on theknowledge gathered from the previous project,were deemed to have a high potential of employmentof 50+ women: hospitality and tourism(in all 3 territorial areas covered by the project);financial services industry (growth services aremostly located in Edinburgh, but this is easilyaccessible from the West of Scotland); and healthservices (NHS). This entailed meeting with the keyintermediaries identified:a. For the financial services industry, ScottishEnterprise has a wide network of businesses inthe sector and were very helpful with thepromotion of the project through their ownchannels, e.g. their network includes HBOS andNationwide, who now encourage the employmentof older women;b. For the hospitality sector they contacted theScottish Tourism Forum and the Hospitality andTourism Board who represent/are in touch withover 50,000 businesses in the sector. This sectoris particularly important as the industry tends toenrol school leavers and not older employees.c. For health services, getting in touch with thekey players within the NHS has been more of achallenge, as it is such a large organisation.However, as the Senior Studies Institute operatesanother EQUAL project with a hospital in Clydebank,they hope to be able to engage with keyindividuals there to launch a pilot, which couldpotentially be mainstreamed to other hospitals.3) Accelerator Programme – this last part of theproject was designed to bring together the firstand second components, i.e. the women trainedand the industry sectors. It will start in May 200725

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandwith a major conference on employability andlearning in later life, bringing together thebeneficiaries of the learning programme and firmsfrom the three sectors.3.4.4 Quantitative and qualitative resultsOverall, programme targets have beenexceeded but with some caveats. The targetswere originally to train 90 women and 104 weretrained. These 90 women were split 30-30-30across the three areas covered, but for one ofthese areas - Lochaber (rural, remote) - it proveddifficult to reach women, and only 9 womenparticipated in the training. The key reasons wererelated to the travelling required and the lack ofpublic transport in rural areas, despite the factthat project reimbursed travel expenses (Lochaberis in the Highlands). In the other two areas thenumbers were higher than planned and thiscompensated for Lochaber (Glasgow - 50 women,South Lanarkshire – 45).It is too early to establish the real impacts of thetraining carried out, although case studies showpositive results. A tool is in place to measure howthe women progress, based on self-scoring whichparticipants were asked to fill in at the start oftheir training, and which will be repeated in June2007. Qualitatively, it is considered that theproject’s message (that it is beneficial to employolder women) has been communicated to thethree sectors involved. Another element whichworked very well was the involvement of differentactors and different speakers in the trainingprogramme. The project made an effort to engageas many specialist actors as possible, for example,Careers Scotland to discuss CV development andother issues, LearnDirect on grants and on-linelearning opportunities; Business Gateway onbusiness start ups; as well as several companies/employers.However, what has emerged clearly from theproject is that there is definitely a demand fromthe women affected. For example, the SSI held anopen evening that entailed a 1.5 hour seminar toexplain what the project is about, which wasattended by over 90 women aged 50+. However,there is little support for this area - this project isunique in Scotland in terms of its genderapproach.3.4.5 Lessons learned, elements ofinnovation and transferabilityOne of the most important findings from theproject has been the importance of aftertrainingcare. One of the key aspects of the trainingis that is does not stop after the 12-week classcomponent. There is a follow-up for six monthsup to a year (e.g. one-to-one contacts, directingthe trained women to further learning opportunities.It can be intimidating for older women toseek further information etc.). Building on this,social interaction has been found to be a key factorfor this client group. The first group started theirtraining in March 2006, and they still meet once amonth. This has enabled the set-up of self-supportmechanisms, which had not been anticipated.The key challenges which pertained to the projectitself were those associated with rurality. For futureprojects, in terms of delivery it would be ideal tostart off with urban areas, e.g. as a pilot, beforeturning to rural areas. Investigating the perceptionof companies with regard to 50+ women andincorporating this into the project design at anearly stage would also have been useful.In hindsight, more work with communities andpublic organisations for the recruitment of traineeswould have been helpful. The project proved thatit was more successful to carry out face-to-facepromotion (e.g. in shopping centres) and word ofmouth, than by use of general promotion materials(e.g. leaflets, newspapers etc.). This approachwould be favoured in future.In terms of the possibility of implementing asimilar experience in other countries, there maybe problems with cultural differences, with theperception of the role of older women in society.26

Analysis of good practice examples3.5 Work-Life Balance (WLB)3.5.1 History of the project and resourcesThe project developed from the interest of anacademic at Glasgow Caledonian UniversityBusiness School, on the topic of work-life balanceand flexible working practices, including how theycan affect gender equality. There was anunderstanding of the fact that ESF and Equal couldbe a coherent framework for the project andtherefore an application was developed andsubmitted under the Equal CI.The overall amount of resources dedicated to theproject was in the order of £171,000, and fundingwas provided by ESF and Glasgow CaledonianUniversity.3.5.2 Objectives, beneficiaries and territorialcoverageAs stated in the final project’s report, theproject’s overarching aim was“to encourage the expansion of the numbers ofMSMEs in Scotland with active flexible workingpractices (FWP) and family-friendly employmentpolicies (FFP). To achieve this aim, a number ofperspectives were explored including currentpractice in work-life balance (WLB) in MSMEs, theviews of potential employees, and representativesof stakeholder organisations with an interest inemployment and economic development” 53It should be noted that, at the beginning, thescope of the project and, more specifically, itsaims, were much broader. For example, the projectintended to study the incidence, nature and valueof family-friendly working practices across ScottishMSMEs. Subsequently, an effort was made tonarrow these aims down and to focus the work tomake it more manageable. In the end, the specificobjectives of the project were defined as follows:• “to explore the current and alternative natureof work life balance policies; their incidenceand coverage in MSMEs in Scotland;disadvantages and benefits of flexible workingpolicies and practices; and current strategiesfor monitoring their implementation;• to assess the extent to which different andalternative types of flexible work policies andpractices meet the employment and domesticneeds of employees, especially those withfamily and primary care commitments andwomen generally;• to evaluate the awareness, alternatives andstrengths of attraction of flexible work policiesand practices to potential labour marketentrants, especially to women and those withprimary care responsibilities; and• to investigate the perspectives of representativesfrom local development agencies,careers advisory services, local authorities andother institutions with an interest in promotingemployment development and economicstability” 54 .In summary, the project examined ways in whichScottish micro, small and medium-sized firmsconsider and incorporate flexible working practices(FWP) and family-friendly employment policies(FFP); hence the territorial coverage of the projectwas Scottish-wide. This choice was made based onawareness of the existence of a gap in theknowledge of these issues across Scotland.3.5.3 Operational aspectsThe project ran from 2002 to 2005. The empiricalresearch was undertaken between October2002 and September 2004, and a final report waspublished in November 2005. The project teamwas composed of four academics (a visitingprofessor, a senior lecturer and two lecturers) and53 MacVicar A, McDougall M, Bell S, Maxwell S and Rankine L (2005) Work-Life Balance in Smaller Businesses in Scotland: Encouraging the Expansion of Flexible Working Policiesand Practices, Glasgow Caledonian University Business School, Equal Scotland, November 2005, p. 5.54 MacVicar A, McDougall M, Bell S, Maxwell S and Rankine L (2005), Op. Cit.,p.13.27

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlanda full time research assistant, most of whom havesince moved from Glasgow Caledonian BusinessSchool to other universities.The work carried out was clearly structured at theoutset and entailed a number of practical steps:• Desk-research to define the issues, understandthe relevance of the topics dealt with to ScottishMSMEs and provide the basis for the empiricalresearch to follow;• The undertaking of preliminary interviews withten Scottish MSMEs owners or seniormanagers;• The preparation and distribution of aquestionnaire to 2,560 MSMEs across Scotland(the survey was carried out in two phases, sincethe returns after the first survey of 1,280 firmswere deemed to be inadequate 55 ; in the end210 responses were obtained);• The development of a database to record theresponses obtained from the survey;• The undertaking of further interviews in tenfirms selected from the survey for thedevelopment of ten good practice case studies(all of which are available from the project’swebsite);• The arrangement of a focus group of potentiallabour market entrants and the undertaking ofinterviews with potential employees tounderstand the views of this group of actorson the topics of FWP and FFP;• The undertaking of interviews with fourstakeholder organisations in the field ofeconomic and business development inScotland;• The creation of a dedicated project websitehttp://www.worklifebalanceresearchsme.org.uk/;• The delivery and dissemination of the finalproject report.The project operated with the support of aSteering Group which included representativesfrom the Equal Opportunities Commission,Scottish Enterprise (the main Scottish economicdevelopment agency), the Federation of SmallBusinesses in Scotland, Fair Play (a genderequality network) and the Confederation of BritishIndustries.3.5.4 Quantitative and qualitative resultsThe research led to a series of interestingfindings and delivered a series of practicaloutputs of immediate relevance for ScottishMSMEs, such as: (i) a model of good practice, (ii)a diagnostic and implementation tool for micro,small and medium businesses to support theintegration of flexible/family-friendly workingpractices in their businesses, and (iii) ten casestudy examples of good practice. The implementationtool, specifically, could be of particularsignificance, as the survey and case study workconducted by the researchers highlighted that acrucial constraint for Scottish MSMEs for theimplementation of FWP and FFP is that they lackthe knowledge of the varied solutions and optionsthat exist, and that they do not know how tooperationalise these. The “Work-Life Balance implementationtool” is a practical response to this.The project also carried out knowledge transfer,by disseminating the key findings of the researchto relevant actors (e.g. through a class for theChartered Institute of Personnel and Development,via conferences, in work with the Chambers ofCommerce etc.). The project’s final report was also55 The survey was administered in paper form and via post (as not all MSMEs would have e-mail) and for this reason there were a lot of changes of address and returned mail.As difficult as it was to obtain 210 returns, this number was only considered sufficient over a population of Scottish MSMEs of around 89,000.28

Analysis of good practice examplesprinted and widely disseminated, and executivesummaries of the report were also made availableto the public. A number of articles in newsletters,press and academic journals, various papers andother types of publications were also published,and conference presentations delivered.Additionally, in June 2004, Glasgow CaledonianUniversity organised a Scottish family-friendlyaward as a way to encourage Scottish MSMEs toadopt flexible/family friendly working approaches.On a qualitative level, the findings of the studywere particularly valuable as they filled a gap inexisting knowledge. In particular, the studyprovided an overview on the existing practice inScottish MSMEs with regards to FWP and FFP; itanalysed good practice examples and carried outa review of potential employees’ and stakeholders’views on these topics; concluding with a series ofrecommendations of practical ways through whichScottish MSMEs could be encouraged to adoptflexible working practices, including stressing theneed for more understanding by key decisionmakersof the nature of FWP and FFP, and of theiractual contribution to the effectiveness of firms.The final report provided evidence of the linkbetween FWP/FFP and firms effectiveness in anaccessible language, supplementing theinformation provided with a glossary of key termsand concepts.3.5.5 Lessons learned, elements ofinnovation and transferabilityThe main elements of innovation are, on the onehand, the fact that the research was carriedout on a topic which is relatively underinvestigatedand yet of immediate relevance tothe practical working of Scottish firms; on theother, the development of concrete outputs thatcould be put to immediate use by Scottish MSMEs.The model of good practice and the diagnostic/implementationtool are particularly valuableand innovative.Some of the outputs of the project – in particularthe research findings and the diagnostic/implementation tool – could be of immediatetransferability to the Italian context. In fact, onecould assume that a similar lack of understandingof these issues characterises the management ofItalian MSMEs. As in Scotland, MSMEs are afundamental part of Italian economic developmentlandscape, and a significant employer ifconsidered in aggregate terms. The benefits ofintroducing FWP and FFP in Italy would besignificant both in economic terms (e.g. firms’efficiency and productivity; aggregate economicadded value) and social terms (e.g. increasedparticipation of women in the labour market,increased retention of workers with strongcapacities/potential, but with caring responsibilitiesetc.).On the negative side, the project proved muchmore time-consuming than had originally beenenvisaged. Any attempts to carry out a similarstudy in Italy should be implemented bearing inmind the need for careful consideration of theimplications of such an ambitious undertaking. Afurther weakness, not of the project itself, butlinked to how it has been subsequently exploited,is related to the lack of attempts to build anysystematic mechanisms for follow-up to ensurethat the project’s recommendations are followedthrough. This is perhaps a more general weaknessof Equal-funded initiatives, whereby once a projectis concluded there does not seem to be amechanism to routinely follow-up and ensure alonger-lasting legacy. It would be interesting toverify if, and to what extent, Scottish MSMEs aretaking FWP and FFP on-board as a result of thisstudy and, as a result, what gender equalityimpacts are being generated.3.6 Women into Business (WiB)3.6.1 History of the project and resourcesScottish Enterprise’s Women into Businessprogramme covers a range of targeted serviceswhich were grouped under the programme’sumbrella in 2000. Scottish Enterprise is Scotland’seconomic development agency (outside the29

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandHighlands and Islands). The launch of theprogramme followed publication of the BusinessBirth Rate Strategy in the 1990s, which highlightedthe fact that the business birth rate in Scotlandwas very narrowly based, with underrepresentedgroups. Women were identified as a key groupwho were not engaging with the businesscommunity, with many hurdles particular to them.Prior to this, a number of ad hoc initiativestargeting women had been in operation, but withno clear strategy or approach.Publication of the Scottish Executive’s strategyA Smart Successful Scotland in 2001 gaveadditional strategic direction to ScottishEnterprise, highlighting the need to address theunder-representation of women in business andlower level of female-led businesses. Theapproach was again reaffirmed by researchpublished in 2002, following which the NationalUnit for Women’s Enterprise (NUWE) was set upin 2003, which now oversees the Women intoBusiness programme.The programme is funded mainly through ScottishEnterprise resources (with an estimated overallbudget of c. £500,000 per annum, but has alsoreceived funding from the Scottish Executive andthe European Social Fund for specific componentsof the programme.3.6.2 Objectives, beneficiaries and territorialcoverageThe aim of the programme is to increase thenumber of Scottish women starting-up andgrowing their own businesses, and to improve thesustainability and growth potential of female-ledbusinesses, thus contributing to the growth of theScottish economy.The focus of the targeted interventions is onwomen at the very early stages of businessdevelopment, and is about improving knowledgeand training, creating better access to otherbusiness people and encouraging informalmentoring, encouraging women to build their ownbusiness networks. The training works on bothpersonal development issues and businessdevelopment skills and support, then ensures thatthe women are being mainstreamed effectivelyi.e. guided to mainstream support programmesthrough the Business Gateways (the deliveryorganisation for Scottish Enterprise’s businessservices) and partners.The programme is available throughout theScottish Enterprise network area (a similarprogramme operates in the Highlands and IslandsEnterprise area).3.6.3 Operational aspectsThe programme services are available throughthe Business Gateways, the Local EnterpriseCompanies (LECs) (the Scottish Enterprise networkorganisations) and the Chambers of Commerce.After the launch of the umbrella programme, thespecific services were developed incrementally.The range on offer currently includes:• Networking – a programme of businessseminars and networking opportunities for prestartclients which provides links toorganisations, business people and mentors.A previous pilot project has revealed thatmainstream activities and services were notappealing to women and were not beingmarketed well to women. Consequently, theproportion of women attending mainstreamevents was very low;• Micro-Credit programme – launched in 2002,providing business support and access tosmall-scale loans, from £500 to £5,000, toenable women to start-up and develop newbusinesses. Training is available alongside thefunding. This part of the programme waslaunched initially with Scottish Executivefunding;• Business Investment for Growth (BIG) – helpingimprove women’s awareness of the businessgrowth stages, and helping them to securefunding for growth through group working and30

Analysis of good practice examplesseminars, helping women develop funding andinvestment plans, and prepare pitches forfunding. This aspect of the programme has onlyrecently been introduced, emerging from pilotwork that recognised that only a very smallproportion of female-led businesses looked totechnology/new product development as waysof growing a business, and that women werereluctant to seek external funding;• Mentoring – originally introduced to supporthigh-growth businesses with a turnover of£250,000 and over, it was realised that fewbusinesswomen could meet this criteria andthe programme was expanded to support morefemale-led businesses;• A specific website has been set up(www.scottishbusinesswomen.com), to promotethe wide range of initiatives available toencourage women in Scotland to start up andgrow their businesses;• A major national conference (the Women intoBusiness Conference) is held bi-ennially (withc. 1,000 attendees) to promote the supportavailable through the enterprise networks andbusiness organisations, and providing womenwith an opportunity to network and developbusiness ideas and strategies. The conferenceincludes practical and technical sessions onfinancing, marketing etc.3.6.4 Quantitative and qualitative impactThe Women into Business programme is anumbrella programme, and the constituent partsof the programme have different aims andobjectives, and operate at different stages,working together in a complementary way. Thedifferent parts of the programme are not directlycomparable, but the programme as a whole isconsidered to be a success. There is clear valueidentified by programme managers on the trainingand advisory side, and where access is providedto peer support. The role of the peer group inhelping to empower and enable other membersof the group, and working together over a periodof time in a sustained way has been found to bevery valuable.The funding side has been less important toclients. There is often a perception of a need forfunding but it has become evident that the‘working through’ process is much more valuable.Indeed, the Micro-Credit programme is no longerfunded, as take-up levels were lower thanexpected. It was found that many women preferredto access funding through their own resources,and are debt averse (although this is agenerational issue, and may be becoming lessprevalent).Specific results and impacts identified include:• Networking: over 1,000 pre-start businessesparticipate in the programme each year;• Micro-Credit programme: c. 550 individualswere assisted with starting and developingtheir businesses between 2002-05 (it isestimated that over 80 percent of these werefemale-led);• Website: the website has increased its visitorrates by over 50 percent each year;• National conferences: customer surveysindicate over 80 percent customer satisfactionlevels with the events.Scottish Enterprise reports annually on itspriority targets; female start-ups is one of theirkey target groups and a target has been set of40 percent of all businesses assisted to start-upeach year should be women-led. As a result ofScottish Enterprise’s increased focus on raisingthe level, sustainability and growth of femaleledenterprises, levels of new businesses bywomen assisted by the Scottish Enterprisenetwork has risen from 31 percent in 1999 to 39percent in 2004.The Scottish Enterprise target of 3,600 womenledbusinesses to be assisted in 2004-05 was31

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandexceeded by 9.7 percent (actual performance was3,949) – this accounted for 43.07 percent of totalstart-ups assisted by the network.The Labour Force Survey indicated that in 2003, 23percent of self-employed people in Scotland werewomen. It is hoped that the enterprise network’sstrategy will help increase this proportion to 28percent by 2009.It is very difficult to measure sustainability ofwomen’s businesses as, historically, banks havenot disaggregated this data, and there have beenvery few studies on sustainability which havedisaggregated the figures.3.6.5 Lessons learned, elements ofinnovation and transferabilityThe umbrella programme approach has hadseveral main benefits. Having an overarchingstrategy helps with delivery and monitoring ofcontractors. In addition, the flexibility of theprogramme has been essential – it has alloweddifferent approaches to be tried and tested. Theprogrammes have been modified and amendedas they progress. Each year, programme managersexamine what is working well and what is workingless well, as well as what fits with the widerprovision of Business Gateway services, to ensurethat clients can also access mainstream support.In this regard, feedback from the client group isvery important. Customer feedback is taken at alltraining sessions, and, in future, quality assurance,feedback and monitoring is set to be even moreimportant.Effective and pro-active marketing has been foundto be essential to improve awareness levels andencourage higher participation. High visibilityevents have been particularly important in thisrespect. Also, as research has shown that manywomen are hesitant to approach business supportorganisations, it is important to brief businessadvisers and fund managers, and those with directcontact with customers.Obstacles have included trying to ensure thatdelivery of the different elements is consistentacross the Scottish Enterprise network. Inaddition, as the programme has an early-stagefocus, with the emphasis on guiding clients on tomainstream support services when they are ready,it can be a challenge convincing clients that theyare ready to move on from early stage support.Funding has been found to be a less importantpart of the programme than expected – the softerforms of support are more crucial (mentoring,network activities) prior to start-up and in the earlyyears of business creation.The programme was probably at its mostinnovative when launched – other providers ofsupport have now ‘caught up’. When theprogramme was launched, there was nothingsimilar around. Over the last couple of years,several retail banks have launched targetedservices and some of the Chambers of Commercealso have specific women’s business forums. Thereis increasing awareness generally and the pictureis healthier than it was.3.7 Women into Enterprise (WiE)3.7.1 History of the project and resourcesThe idea of the project was developed withinthe Business Support Unit of Glasgow CityCouncil. The work done with a previous scheme –Glasgow City Council’s Women’s IntegratedDevelopment Fund - made it evident that womendo not see themselves as entrepreneurs, that theyare not taken seriously when they do so and oftendo not know how to get on to implement abusiness idea even when they have one. With thisin mind, an application for funding was sent toStrathclyde European Partnership, the Secretariatof the Western Scotland Objective 2 programme.The project was approved and launched inFebruary 2002 and ran until Feb 2005.Subsequently, the scheme was continued (butwith lower level of maximum grants) until January2007, when it was terminated due to budget32

Analysis of good practice examplesconstraints and internal rationalisation withinGlasgow City Council.The funding for the scheme came from both the2000-06 Western Scotland Objective 2 SPD andGlasgow City Council. The overall amount offunding for the period February 2002-February2005 was in the region of £1 million.3.7.2 Objectives, beneficiaries and territorialcoverageThe main aim of the project is linked to a broaderaim of the strategy of the Council as a whole,that to build up innovative capacities in Glasgow.The project was made gender specific because ofa particular gap in this segment of the population.Its main aim is to assist women start-ups andexisting women SMES in Glasgow to becomeinnovative and sustainable.Beneficiaries are women who intend to set up theirown business or that already own and manage acompany in the area of Glasgow City Councilboundaries (the business has to be owned by awoman or a woman has to be the principalpartner).3.7.3 Operational aspectsThe project has very much been focused onclients’ needs and was built around three maincomponents: training, facilitation of networkingopportunities and grants. Originally the projecthad also foreseen the creation of a loan fund butthis did not take place.Training has been delivered through a number ofprogrammes targeted at existing and start-upbusinesses. The training courses were run atvarious times throughout the life of the Womeninto Enterprise Programme, with the last courseshaving taken place in the second half of 2006. Allworkshops and training courses were free andparticipants would be allocated a place on a firstcome-firstserve basis. For the BusinessDevelopment Workshops, applicants couldindicate within the same application form theirchoice of workshops or select them all. Eachworkshop ran for three to four hours. Examplesof the workshop run include the following:“Handle your own PR”; cash budgeting (parts 1and 2); presentation skills (parts 1 and 2);marketing; introduction to e-commerce; on-lineand e-mail marketing; book keeping (parts 1 and2).The Refresh your Marketing course wasdelivered in six modules and kept focused onmarketing and promotion.Networking opportunities were facilitated throughvarious training programmes, for example the“Start it Right Programme”. The programme wasorganised in eight half-day modules developed tocover the key elements of running a business andto provide the necessary knowledge to prepare abusiness plan. The programme, which had to beattended in full, also entailed the support of atutor and was considered to provide a networkingopportunity for women wishing to set up their ownbusiness to meet like-minded women with similarneeds. An example of the type of schedule of sucha programme is provided in Table 2 below.TABLE 2Start It Right ProgrammeDateModule02.10.2006 Self employment09.10.2006 Developing your idea16.10.2006 Setting up a business23.10.2006 The business plan30.10.2006 Prepare to start06.11.2006 Financial aspects13.11.2006 Summing up20.11.2006 Plan presentation33

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandThe grants ranged from £2,000 (new businesses)to £5,000 (existing businesses) during the periodFebruary 2002-February 2005, and subsequentlyfrom £1,000 to £3,500 for new and existingbusinesses respectively. The scheme is administeredthrough an open call for tender.Eligible for the grant are women start-ups andexisting SMES for which the female applicant isthe owner or the principal partner, located in theGlasgow area. Interestingly, and this is consideredone of the main innovative elements of thescheme, applicants do not need to be located inbusiness premises and pay business rates toGlasgow City Council: businesses working fromhome are also eligible for support. Some sectorsare excluded from support, e.g. the retail sector(e.g. hairdressers, beauty salons etc.). This wasdecided because it was deemed that retail has acertain capacity in Glasgow and giving a grant toone operator would mean detracting businessfrom another (displacement effect). Other thanthis, all industry sectors are eligible, withpreference accorded to businesses operating orthat intend to operate in cluster industries suchas electronics, biotechnologies, food and drink,creative industries, financial and business services.Eligible expenses include equipment, trainingcosts, minor property alterations, marketing expensesetc..Project applicants for the grant have to submit thefollowing:• Application form (downloadable from theCouncil’s website)• Business Plan• Financial forecasts (one year for start-ups , twoyears for existing companies)• Quotations for the expenses for which the grantis requested• Existing companies must also supply evidencefor the previous year’s trading (cash flow,profit/loss account, balance sheet).The selection process is done in-house in theCouncil and two members of staff are devoted tothis. The aim of the appraisal is to look at: whetherthe project is viable and whether there is a realneed for money (if the investment would happenanyway, then the view is that there is no need forpublic funding). If the proposal is made from awoman who is long-term unemployed or otherwisedisadvantaged, the assessment on the previouscriteria may be somewhat ‘softened’. The selectionprocess always entails a meeting with applicants,and this is considered extremely useful to be ableto gauge the real potential and value of projects.The preparation of the business plan can be arather daunting task for women with no businessbackground and, outside the “Start it rightprogramme”, the project team also often refersprospective applicants to the Business Gatewaysto get professional support to develop thebusiness plan. Applicants can also be referred toanother project funded by Glasgow City Council,“Enterprising Women”, which provides fundingfor early project development stages (up to amaximum of £200 e.g. for market research andsimilar).The scheme was advertised in various ways, forexample via the magazine of one of the biggestcinemas in Glasgow (Odeon cinema’s “OdeonAddict”) and also in the City Council’s Magazine“Glasgow - The Magazine of the people ofGlasgow”. This has a distribution of over 300,000copies, as it is delivered to all Glasgow privatehomes and most business premises. The disseminationwas made to raise awareness amongstpeople who are not aware of the scheme: not allof the women who read the advertisement maysubmit an application - but at least they mightbegin to consider self-employment as a possibility.Additionally, an award ceremony was organisedat Glasgow City Chambers. This was at a timewhen the Lord Provost (the equivalent of an Italianmajor) was particularly keen to raise the profileof the equal opportunity agenda in Glasgow and34

Analysis of good practice examplesit hosted a formal dinner and ceremony whichinvolved 20 short-listed projects, 8 of whichobtained an award. The presence of the LordProvost and the venue gave the event a very highand formal profile.3.7.4 Quantitative and qualitative resultsIn the first phase of the project (February 2002-February 2005) just under 2,000 training placeswere funded. This is a considered a highachievement, though there may be some doublecounting (i.e. the same woman could have beentrained more than once). Under the grantsprogramme, the same period saw 46 start-up and42 existing businesses assisted.Structural Funds co-funding meant that specificproject performance indicators and targets wereestablished at the start of the project and all ofthese were achieved or exceeded (see Table 3).TABLE 3Women into Enterprise 2002-2005 project performance targetsProjected outcomes over 3 year life of projectNo. of advice/consultancy to start up SMEs 95No. of advice/consultancy to existing up SMEs 110Instances of advice/consultancy to start up SMEs 60Instances of advice/consultancy to existing SMEs 60No. of business network events supported 44Start-up businesses will create FTE jobs 90Start-up businesses will achieve sales growth of£1 millionExisting SMES will create FTE jobs of 140Existing SMEs will sustain jobs 550Existing SMEs will achieve sales growth of£2.2 millionSource:http://www.wsep.co.uk/downloads/casestds/Improving%20Competitiveness%20and%20Innovation%20in%20SMEs/Women%20Into%20Enterprise.pdfFrom a qualitative point of view, the work of thenetworking groups was considered very useful:even after 4 years, some of these groups continueto meet regularly (every three months or so), eventhough some of the women are now involved invery successful businesses.35

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandLooking at the grants, one of the main positiveoutcomes achieved has been to have fundedbusinesses that were truly innovative andsuccessful (and which would have been successfuleven if they had not been women’s businesses).Some examples of the successful businessesfunded include “Squigee”(http://www.squigee.com/squigee/), a surfacedesign company specialising in fabric and wallcovering. Other companies include advertisingagencies, jewellery design companies, and aleather manufacturing company. Most of thesecompanies have grown to an extent that theywould no more be eligible for funding.3.7.5 Elements of innovationand transferabilityThe scheme presents some interesting featuresin that it provides not just grants for businessstart-up or expansion, but also pre-grant supportin the form of training and networking facilitation.Additionally, one of the main innovative elementsof the scheme is the fact that it also fundsbusinesses that do not operate from businesspremises (i.e. that operate from home). This isconsidered particularly useful in the context ofwomen entrepreneurship as women are known tobe generally risk-averse. Often women prefer towork from home at least initially, opting to moveto business premises only once the business isconsolidated (and not always then). Working fromhome, moreover, allows saving money andprovides the flexibility which women frequentlyneed to reconcile work and family commitments.In acknowledging this, the scheme is extremelyinnovative as there are no other such schemesthat allow this.One other strength of the scheme is that it doesnot just fund women businesses per se, but viablewomen businesses with good success prospectsand this has been in line with the more generalaim of supporting the competitiveness ofGlasgow’s entrepreneurial fabric. However, gettingthe right kind of applications has been a challenge(for example, even though the ineligibility of retailinitiatives is clearly stated, a high number ofapplications was received from this sector).36

4.Scenarios and perspectives4.1 LegislationLooking at future scenarios on the implementationof equal opportunities in Scotlandand at the integration of women in localeconomic development processes implies consideringthe likely impact that the Gender Duty willdeliver. Overall, the views gathered on the GenderDuty were extremely positive, as it provides thenecessary degree of formality that is needed toensure that gender equality is a priority and thatthis filters into both public and private sectors.One of the interviewees went as far as stating thatthe Gender Duty is “the best thing that hasoccurred in this field since the 1970s”. This havingbeen said, there is some degree of realism on theexpectations of the Duty and on the fact that oneshould not overstate what it will achieve. The Dutyhas been defined as a “toothless tiger” in thatwhile the policy itself is adequate, the degree ofaccountability placed upon it is not necessarilysufficient. Amongst the limitations of the currentpolicies for gender equality that were quotedduring the interviews are the compartmentalisationof equality and the lack ofintegration across government policies anddepartments at both UK and Scottish level, andthe specialist skills involved in implementing theGender Duty at local levels. These two issues arebriefly discussed in the paragraphs to follow.Although the legislation is being put in place, theimplementation of the policy at the local level willvery likely become the responsibility of specialistunits, such as the Equal Opportunities sectionsof the local councils. This specialisation, whileunderstandable, might dilute the impact that theDuty will have on the day-to-day work ofinstitutions. This same compartmentalisation canbe seen within and across the Scottish Executive.The following example was cited in illustration ofthis: in 2004, the EOC carried out an analysis ofthe Modern Apprenticeships Scheme and of howit had impacted on gender equality 56 . The outcomeof this analysis was that girls were clustered instereotypical female jobs (care, nursing, hairdressing,beauty, etc.) and vice-versa. In synthesis,the study concluded that the scheme had operatedin a way that reinforced gender stereotypes ratherthan challenged them. More significantly, at theend and as a result of the apprenticeships, womenwould remain on the same wage, whereas menwould significantly increase their salaries. One of56 E. Thomson with A. McKay, J. Campbell and M. Gillespie (2004) Modern apprenticeships and gender equality: a local perspective. E. Thomson, A. McKay, J. Campbell andM. Gillespie (2005) Jobs for the boys and the girls: promoting a smart, successful and equal Scotland. The final report to the Scottish component of the EOC’s general formalinvestigation into occupational segregation, February 2005.37

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandthe recommendations of the report was that anational strategy should be developed to look atoccupational segregation. The Department forEnterprise, Transport and Life-Long Learning(ETLLD), however, has not embraced the findingsof the report when reviewing the ModernApprenticeship Scheme at the start of 2007.Although there was consultation on the ModernApprenticeship Scheme, the consultationdocument did not make any mention of genderissues and equality. This having been said,however, it should also be mentioned that, inresponding to the EOC’s analysis on ModernApprenticeships, the Scottish Executive agreed toset up a Cross-Departmental Working Group onOccupational Segregation. This Group, whichworks across three departments (ETLLD,Education and Development), has been taskedwith exploring the issue of occupationalsegregation thematically - across education,training, careers advise, workforce, curriculum,etc. - and identifying where changes could bemade to policy and practice to challenge genderstereotypes and support women and men, girlsand boys to fulfil their potential in education,employment and training, without being inhibitedby stereotypes and assumptions.A further problem with the implementation of theGender Equality Duty relates to the difficultiesassociated with its practical delivery and thespecialist skills required to comply with it, forexample at the local level. Even the specialistEqual Opportunities staff are reported to bestruggling with the implications of the new GenderDuty, and are finding it much more difficult to dealwith than disability or race as an equality issue. Forexample, Councils may be unsure of how toproceed with surveying all the men and womenlocated within the authority’s boundaries toidentify the main issues pertaining to them.Feedback implies that, at local level, evenspecialists are unsure of how to handle the GenderDuty.4.2 Role of the European CommissionThere was wide consensus amongst theinterviewees that the EC has been extremelyinfluential and that good practices in this fieldwere almost always funded by the Europeanbudget. The dissemination of best practice is alsoconsidered to have been beneficial to make surethat across the EU “everybody is singing from thesame song-sheet” and that there is a commonunderstanding of these issues, and to buildcapacities across Member States. On one level,some events organised by the Commission wereconsidered enjoyable but also at times superficial;on another level, however, there is overall a highconsideration for the trans-national work done atEU level and the active role of the Commission inpromoting good practice exchange across MemberStates. This was considered positive not just forthe promotion of the equality agenda per se, butalso because it builds a sense of the Union. Ofcourse, European Directives are also consideredto have been a strong tool to push throughlegislation the Equal Opportunities agenda 57 .4.3 Role of national and localgovernmentsAccording to one of the interviewees, the UKgovernment has proven to be more risk averseand more focused on business than Scotland andWales; this might have to do with political historyand with the fact that, in England, there is a highernumber of businesses that can effectively lobbythe government. The Scottish Code of Practice ongender duty was for example considered betterthan the English equivalent. One could arguetherefore that devolution has had a positiveimpact in pushing the gender equality agenda inScotland and, in fact, gender equality and equalitymore generally have been at the heart of Scottishpolicies since devolution. However, there seems tobe some degree of tension between UK and57 http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/gender_equality/legislation/legalacts_en.html.38

Scenarios and perspectivesScottish levels. The work of the Women at WorkCommission, for example, was considereddisappointing by some in Scotland. Even thoughthe delivery of gender equality is a devolvedmatter, the Commission did not include anyrepresentative from Scotland and, as a result, itcan be difficult to see how some of therecommendations would apply to Scotland. 58Looking at Scotland more specifically and at therole of the Executive, this was considered to havebeen generally very positive. The role of theEquality Unit of the Scottish Executive in particularwas considered to have been most useful;however, it was also noted that the Unit can onlyhave a limited influence on how other Departmentswithin the Executive shape their policies.It was felt that, where the Unit has latitude tointervene, it does so effectively, but this latitudeis perhaps not as wide as it could be.The EOC was considered to have been hugelyimportant to raise awareness and to influencepolicies. Nonetheless, the fact that in October2007 it will cease to exist as such and will bemerged into a new Commission for Equality andHuman Rights (CEHR) 59 was deemed a positivedevelopment, as it will give more strength to theequality agenda by eliminating any possiblefragmentation in the way the different types ofdiscrimination are dealt with. Moreover, this is inline with the understanding of equality that is atthe basis of UK public policy: an all encompassingconcept which includes all aspects of possiblediscrimination - from gender to race, disability,religion etc. - and that goes beyond the traditionalissues of labour market inclusion, equal pay andnon-discrimination 60 (a concept which is differentthan the principle of equality between women andmen included in the EC Treaty and promoted bythe European Commission through the use of theStructural Funds) 61 .The government agencies in Scotland – e.g. theEnterprise Network, Careers Scotland - have beenreported to have worked hard to communicate thebusiness case for gender equality and show whyit is important. As a result there is now a betterunderstanding of the value of equality whenlooking at it from an economic developmentperspective, and globally there is greaterawareness of the need to improve the number ofwomen in business. However, it was also notedduring the interviews that there is still a need tobuild the evidence of the business case forequality and to disseminate this concept morewidely.4.4 Role of non-governmental actors andthe civil societyThere are a high number of NGOs in Scotlandthat deal with Equal Opportunities. A lot ofcooperation is reported to take place amongst theThird Sector organisations; by way of example,there is a “Funders Frontline Forum” where anumber of Third Sector organisations meet toidentify common issues, look at gaps, collaborateon training staff and volunteers etc.. In Scotland,the various Third Sector Organisations are58 As previously noted, it should be mentioned that representatives from the Commission went to Scotland to hear the views of women in Scotland and to view projects whichworked with women.59 http://www.cehr.org.uk/.60 The Final Report of the Equality Review provides an effective explanation for this all encompassing understanding of equality, stating that “we need a new definition of equality[…] Traditional approaches – based on equality of outcomes, opportunities, process and respect – have either resulted in a focus on income, or on wealth, rather than on allthe aspects of life that are important to people in leading a fulfilling life, or have not taken serious consideration of the economic, political, legal, social and physical conditionsthat constrain people’s achievements and opportunities. […] The Review’s approach […] recognises the equal worth of every individual, as reflected in human rights principles;it is sensitive to both outcomes and opportunities, and recognises the necessary role of institutions in removing barriers and making sure that opportunities to flourish arereal. An equal society seeks equality in the freedoms that people have to lead a fulfilling life”, from Equality Review Panel chaired by Trevor Phillips (2007) Fairness andFreedom. The Final Report of the Equalities Review, February 2007, http://www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk/upload/assets/www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk/equality_review.pdf,p. 5.61 R. Fitzgerald, Gender Mainstreaming and structural Funds in Scotland. Lessons for public policy, Seminar by Jim Campbell, Leaza McSorley and Rona Fitzgerald, Globalisationand Public Policy Research Seminars, Glasgow Caledonian University, 8 March 2007.39

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandreported to not perceive each other as competitors,but to collaborate to avoid duplications,strengthen synergies and deliver a complementaryset of schemes.Trade Unions are also active in the field of genderequality as they have had equality at the heart oftheir policies since their beginnings. The Scottishsociety itself has traditionally been very receptiveto the issues of equality.4.5 Policy gapsAfew gaps were identified with respect to theimplementation of gender equality policies inScotland. A first set of gaps relates to policy areasthat so far have not been adequately developedfrom an equal opportunities point of view. First,regarding the pay gap, the fact that pay reviewsare still not mandatory (despite the importantimprovements introduced in Scotland with thisrespect by the GED) is felt to be a significantdeficiency and something that should be lookedat in future if the pay gap has to be overcome.Second, there is still little policy work that is beingdone on older women specifically. Only recently,in March 2007, the Scottish Executive publishedits policy “All Our Futures: Planning for a Scotlandwith an Ageing Population”. 62 Until then, inScotland policy did not address the specific needsof the older population (for example, the lifelonglearning agenda is mostly targeted at youngpeople and the policies of the Scottish Executiveare focused on younger adults rather than olderadults). However, the changing demography inScotland implies a need to focus policy on olderpeople too. Similarly, with respect to women morespecifically, a lot of work has been done onyounger women (e.g. training for school leavers),but as a woman gets older it is more difficult forher to find forms of support. Finally, poverty doesaffect women in a very specific manner and policyresponses to this issue are not yet fully adequate.A second set of gaps relate to the methodologiesand practices in place to integrate genderconsiderations in the wide range of sectoralpolicies, even where the relevance of equality isacknowledged. On the one hand, on a conceptuallevel, there is still an inadequate link between theanalytical work carried out in the academia andthe stages of policy-formulation. On the otherhand, on a more operational level, there is still animportant gap between the policies formulated(mainly at Scottish level) and the actual work ofpractitioners on the ground (local levels). Oneexample of this is the field of regeneration policy,where the inadequacy of the tools to involvewomen in decision-making processes has adetrimental effect on the policies’ capacity totackle poverty and its specific impact on women.62 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/Equality/18501/Experience40

5.ConclusionsDevolution has raised the profile of equalopportunities and gender equality in Scotland.However, there is a risk of loss of momentum. Itwill be important in the future to put into placeefforts to capitalise on the progress made in thisarea since 2000 and to further promote the equalopportunities agenda with concrete policyinitiatives. Current and past practice in Scotlandas regards the implementation of policies forgender equality highlight that there is a highdegree of compartmentalisation of equality withingovernment departments, local authorities andagencies. The implementation of gender equalityinitiatives is still perceived to be a competence ofspecific units or officials within organisations, andnot an ambition of all actors in charge of policydevelopment and delivery. There is still a lack ofownership of the gender issue across the boardand the mainstreaming approach – i.e. thetransversal and systematic integration of equalityconsiderations in all policies, services and policyphases– is still far from being achieved. Evidencefrom the case studies suggests that to date thereis still no widespread awareness or practice of thenecessity to integrate gender considerations atthe stages of policy formulation, but this is keyfor the integration of gender equality insubsequent policy implementation and deliveryphases. Whether the Gender Equality Duty will beable to overcome such limitations is controversial(as has been discussed in Section 4.1).Whilst with these limitations in mind, it isundeniable that Scotland has been over the pastfew years a real test-bed for innovative activitiesfor the promotion of gender equality. A wide rangeof initiatives has been implemented in pursuit ofthis goal by different types of actors (councils,development agencies, Third Sector organisations,various types of partnerships etc.) and withdiffering scope, aims and territorial focus. In otherwords, if from a top-down level it is proving difficultfor gender equality to filter through all policiesand across levels of governance, it should alsobeen acknowledged that there are a great deal ofinitiatives on the ground that support theintegration of women in Scottish economic andsocial life. For the future, more work should bedone to create synergies between such initiativesand to place them in a more systemic frameworkso as to maximise impacts and added value.Additionally, women should be involved more andmore routinely in local development decisionmaking-processes(especially at grass-root levels).It would also be beneficial to pay more attentionto the operational aspects of policy delivery andto develop appropriate tools to more effectivelylink policy and practice, in a similar way as theClose the Gap and the Engendering Policyinitiatives have done. Pilot testing these tools andmonitoring their use should also be encouraged,with a view to promote the implementation ofsuccessful experiences in similar contexts.Looking at the transferability of the good practiceexperiences found in Scotland to other contexts,41

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in Scotlandtwo key lessons emerge from the case studies.First, a key factor that has emerged from the casestudies is that often the success of initiatives forgender equality is built on the commitment ofindividuals on the ground and on their drive toeffectively make a difference. However, thecommitment of senior levels is also essential togive weight to the priority of gender equality and,in this way, to integrate gender equality moreeffectively within the culture of organisations.Second, a further element that has emerged fromthe case studies is that it can be difficult to makethe qualitative jump from successful, innovativepilot projects to large-scale mainstream. To ensurethat the lessons learnt from pilot experiences arenot lost and that such projects leave a lastinglegacy, it would be fundamental to set up aneffective follow up framework through whichsystematically institutionalise learning andestablish a virtuous cycle of policy innovation.42

6.ANNEX 1Case Study synthetic overviewMember State Case: Scotland (United Kingdom)Sources – People interviewed (during scanning exercise and further interviews)Name and Role Organisation and Contact Details NotesGraham Smith Senior Studies Institute InterviewedProject Co-ordinator University of Strathclyde, Glasgow on 9 February 2007,graham.smith@strath.ac.ukAWE projectMarie Dorris National Unit for Women’s Enterprise, Interviewed onHead of Unit Scottish Enterprise, Glasgow 16 February 2007Marie.Dorriss@scotent.co.ukHelen Wray Scottish Community Foundation Interviewed on 21 February 2007,Grants Officer Helen@scottishcf.org Women’s FundKathleen Jones Glasgow City Council Interviewed on 27 February 2007Project Development Officer Kathleen.Jones@drs.glasgow.gov.ukEmma Ritch Close the Gap, Glasgow Interviewed on 27 February 2007Project Manager Close the Gap E.Ritch@stuc.org.ukLouise Falconer South Lanarkshire Council Interviewed on 27 February 2007Project Officer(Oxfam secondee)Louise@changingplacesbh.co.ukGillian Maxwell Caledonian Business School Interviewed on 7 March 2007Senior LecturerCaledonian University, GlasgowG.Maxwell@gcal.ac.uk43

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandTitle, Author, Date Website, Publication Details Notes“Annual Review 2006 of demographictrends”, General Register Officefor Scotland, 2007(first publishes 27 July 2007)http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/publications-and-data/annual-report-publications/rgs-annual-review-2006/index.html“Gender Agenda for Scotland.Completing the revolution:the leading indicators”,Equal Opportunities CommissionScotland, 2007http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/Gender_Equality_Index_Scotland.pdf“Fairness and Freedom.The Final Report of the EqualitiesReview” by Equality Review Panelchaired by Trevor Phillips,February 2007“The incidence and impactof flexible working arrangementsin smaller businesses”by G. Maxwell, L. Rankine, S. Belland A. MacVicar,in Employee Relations,vol. 29, no. 2, 2007, pp. 138-160http://www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk/upload/assets/www.theequalitiesreview.org.uk/equality_review.pdfObtained from Gill Maxwell(Glasgow Caledonian Business School)“High Level Summary of Equality http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/ Provides gender disaggregatedStatistics. Key Trends for Scotland”, 2006/11/20102424/16 statistics on a number of topics.Scottish Executive,Scottish Executive NationalStatistics Publication,November 2006“Explanatory Memorandum http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/em2006/ Explains the gender equality dutyto the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 uksiem_20062930_en.pdf set to come into force in 2007(Public Authorities) (StatutoryDuties) Order 2006 no. 2930and the Draft Gender EqualityDuty Code of Practice”,Scottish Executive, November 2006“Gender Equality and Workin Scotland: A Review of theEvidence Base and the SalientIssues”, by R. Fitzgeraldand A. McKay, May 2006“New Gender Equality Duty.Consultation events report”,by Wendy Davies and Rona Fitzgerald,April 2006“Public Policy Scottish Statistics.Desktop Research”, by R. McIlwhanon behalf of the EOC, March 2006http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/gender_equality_and_work_in_Scotland.pdfhttp://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/CoP_Event_Summary_Points.pdfhttp://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/public_policy_scottish_statistics.pdf44

ANNEX 1 - Case Study synthetic overviewSources – Documents analysed (during scanning exercise and further analysis)Title, Author, Date Website, Publication Details Notes“Gender Equality Duty. Draft Codeof Practice - Scotland”,February 2006(draft code for consultation)http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/Scottish_GED_CoP_for_consultation.pdf“Shaping a fairer future” Women http://www.womenandequalityunit. Report of the independent reviewand Work Commission, gov.uk/publications/wwc_shaping_ commissioned by the UK PrimeFebruary 2006 fairer_future06.pdf Minister in Summer 2004 on thecauses of the gender pay andopportunities gap and onpractical recommendationsto address itReport on equality between women http://ec.europa.eu/employment_ General, EU backgroundand men, 2006”, Europeansocial/publications/2006/Commission, February 2006 keaj06001_en.pdf“The Gender Public Duty in Scotland.Stakeholder Mapping and DraftConsultation Strategy”, RevisedReport, by OSCD and FitzgeraldAssociates, February 2006“Older People and Employmentin Scotland”, Dr. Vít Novotny,Senior Studies Institute,Centre for Lifelong Learning,University of Strathclyde,Glasgow, 2006Close the gap “Bargaining for EqualPay. A toolkit for trade union reps”,by STUC, December 2005Close the gap “Different but equal.Equal value: a guide to comparingjobs. Factors to consider”,October 2005, by Kay Gilberthttp://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/A_Mapping_Exercise_of_the_Public_Sector_in_Scotland.pdfObtained from Senior Studies Institute,University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.Obtained from Close the GapObtained from Close the Gap“Evaluating Impact: Assessing Report obtained from SCF Comprehensive and detailedCommunity Benefit. Evaluationevaluation of the Fund’sof the Women’s Fund for Scotland”,performanceby Dr. Sheila Hamilton,September 200545

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandTitle, Author, Date Website, Publication Details Notes“Jobs for the boys and the girls:promoting a smart, successfuland equal Scotland. The final reportto the Scottish componentof the EOC’s general formalinvestigation into occupationalsegregation”, by E. Thomson,A. McKay, J. Campbell, M. Gillespie,February 2005“Sharpening the Focus on Women’sEnterprise in Scotland” ScottishEnterprise and Highlandsand Islands Enterprise, 2005“Modern apprenticeships andgender equality: a local perspective”,by E. Thomson, A. McKay, J. Campbell,M. Gillespie, November 2004“Pay, Position & OccupationalOptions: Women in the HIE Area.Report for Highlands& Islands Enterprise”Obtained from Close the Gaphttp://www.bgateway.com/publications/nuwe_report_2005-3.pdfObtained from Close the Gaphttp://www.equal-works.com/resources/contentfiles/962.docFair Play “Take the time for a Work-life Obtained from Close the GapStrategy” (authors S. Karim,M. McDougall, F. McOwan, G. Maxwell,A. Meikle, L. Welsh, S. Wise)Fair Play “ A short guide to greaterflexibility in the workplace”Close the gap “Equal PayCampaigning. A toolkit for studentofficers”, by Jenny Duncan”Close the gap “Different but equal.Equal value: a guide to comparingjobs. Workbook for comparing jobsObtained from Close the GapObtained from Close the GapObtained from Close the Gap“Equality in practice – Making http://www.esep.co.uk/download/ Useful as a background source onit work” by Muriel MacKenzie, eqopps/equality_practice.pdf EO integration in Structural FundsEqual Opportunities Adviser toprogrammes across ScotlandScottish Structural Funds(although none of the selectedProgrammes, 2003?case studies has also beenselected for this research).“Improving the Position of Womenin Scotland: An Agenda for Action”,Report to the Scottish Executiveby the Strategic Groupon Women, 2003http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/47063/0025552.pdf46

ANNEX 1 - Case Study synthetic overviewTitle, Author, Date Website, Publication Details Notes“Equal in Scotland” The newsletter http://www.objective3.org/Web/Site/ Contain useful information onof the Equal CI in Scotland Equal/Equal_Newsletters.asp some of the selected projects(various issues)(e.g. Close the gap)47

Gender Equality in Local Economic Development in ScotlandSources – Good Practices identified (during further analysis)Name of the Strategy/ Organisation and Contact Details Institution’s web addressesTitle of the projectClose the gap Close the Gap http://www.closethegap.org.ukFreepost SCO7677GlasgowG3 6BRWomen’s Fund for Scotland Scottish Community Foundation www.scottishcf.orgSuite 3.4 Turnberry House175 West George StreetGlasgow G2 2LBTel: 0141 225 6670Fax: 0141 229 1419Engendering Policy South Lanarkshire Council http://www.southlanarkshire.Blantyregov.uk/portal/page/portal/Tel: 01698 714955EXTERNAL_WEBSITE_DEVELOPMENT/SLC_ONLINE_HOMEAWE – Advancing Women’s University of Strathclyde, http://www.cll.strath.ac.uk/ssi.htmlEmployabilitySenior Studies Institute40 George streetGlasgowG1 1QEWork-life balance Glasgow Caledonian University www.caledonian.ac.ukCaledonian Business SchoolCowcaddens RoadGlasgow G4 0BAWomen into business Scottish Enterprise http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/National Unit for Women’s Enterprise150 Broomielaw5 Atlantic QuayGlasgow G2 8LU.Tel: 0141 248 2700.Women into enterprise Glasgow City Council http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/Development and Regeneration ServicesExchange House229 George StreetGlasgow G1 1QUTel: 0141 287 7277womenintoenterprise@drs.glasgow.gov48

partner:www.retepariopportunita.itaffariinternazionali.po@palazzochigi.it