Abstract:

Global statistics demonstrate that women are still in the minority of entrepreneurs in the world. The programme Women’s Power is a lifelong learning programme focusing on business at Bifröst University started in the spring of 2004, where women can sign up for the programme without any prerequisites. The teachers are all professionals in their field and have extensive experience in teaching on the university's primary education programme, as well as practical experience in business management. The programme has evolved in content focusing more on entrepreneurship. The past 15 year, over one thousand women have graduated from the course which has proven to be a start for many women who have not been interested in pursuing further education and have subsequently enrolled in studies at Bifröst. Furthermore, Bifröst University has participated in developing two projects that are based on, among others, the Empowering Women project. The projects, Advancing Migrant Women and iFEMPOWER, are both Erasmus+ funded projects, The AMW programme aims to increase migrant women employability and entrepreneurship skills while at the same time building their confidence and soft skills and has been highly successful. The iFEMPOWER programme will be a part of the undergraduate curriculum at Bifröst University starting spring 2020. According to Statistics on Women Entrepreneurs in Iceland published by the European Commission, around 33% of all entrepreneurs were women who constituted around 8% of the total work force. Most women entrepreneurs were working full time, but 28% of them were working part-time on their start-ups. Most female entrepreneurs were operating in the professional, scientific and technical sectors and wholesale and retail. The sectors with the lowest proportion of women entrepreneurs were construction, transportation and storage. However, no public statistical data exists on the ratio of female migrant entrepreneurs in Iceland. It is interesting to note that women entrepreneurs were generally younger and had a higher level of education than male entrepreneurs. Hence, the importance of continuing education in terms of empowering women is an on-going project and is not about to decrease in the future.

Keywords:

Refugees, Migrants and Minorities Inclusion, Lifespan Transitions and Employability.