The Ministry of Education and Science presents a model roadmap for promoting gender equality in vocational education. It aims to implement the principles of gender equality in vocational schools and help create a modern equal educational environment for the professional development and self-realization of students regardless of sex and gender. The roadmap was first presented at the Building Gender Equality in Vocational Education forum, which took place in December 2022 as part of the Support to Pilot Regions for the Promotion of Gender Equality project.

“A present-day vocational school female graduate can be a carpenter, a police officer and even a welder, and a male graduate can be a professional chef or tailor. While students increasingly understand that the only thing that matters in choosing a specialty is love for the future profession, we still meet quite a few people among the management and teachers of vocational schools who are affected by gender stereotypes. It is in order to get rid of prejudice that we have created a Model Roadmap for Promoting Gender Equality, which aims to help each vocational school to create a gender-tolerant and equal environment,” said Iryna Shumik, Director General of the Directorate of Vocational Education of the Ministry of Education and Science.

The document defines the following priorities for promoting gender equality:

• creation of tools and mechanisms to combat gender discrimination;
• raising the level of gender literacy among vocational schools staff;
• overcoming gender stereotypes regarding the choice of profession;
• creation of a gender-sensitive educational environment, particularly the physical one;
• analysis of curricula in terms of gender component.

The forum also presented the results of a pilot comprehensive gender audit conducted at Chernivtsi Higher Vocational School of Radio Electronics. In the future, it is planned to prepare an online training course and recommendations on the specifics of conducting a comprehensive gender audit of vocational education institutions.

The Support to Pilot Regions for the Promotion of Gender Equality project is being implemented within the framework of the EU4Skills: Better Skills for Modern Ukraine programme.

Earlier, the Board of the Ministry of Education and Science approved a conceptual framework for the development of human capital in the field of vocational education and training.