Title: Immigrant women, e-skills & employability in Europe: The case of Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, and Spain
Authors: Maria Garrido, Gabriel Rissola, Milvia Rastrelli, Andrea Diaz, Jaime Ruiz
Publisher: Technology & Social Change Group, University of Washington
Date (published): 03/03/2010
Date (accessed): 12/03/2010
Type of information: research report
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf, 1,6 MB)
Abstract:
There is much research on the role of e-skills in advancing employability among disadvantaged groups, but little is known about the way in which these skills can promote the economic integration of immigrant women in the European Union, or how improving digital competences and access to computers and the Internet can foster social inclusion.

This study contributes to filling this gap, investigating the role of e-skills in advancing the employability of immigrant women in four countries: Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. Romania is included for comparison, as a source of migration.

The conceptual framework builds on Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach, as well as on the EU’s Framework on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. Based on a survey of 375 immigrant and 155 native-born women, and supplemented by interviews with staff at non-government organizations, this research examines three interrelated paths that, we argue, lead to improved employability: education and lifelong earning, social inclusion, and cultural inclusion.

Findings suggest that strengthening e-skills among immigrant women is an important factor in advancing along these three paths, potentially improving women’s position in the labor market. In addition, NGOs play an pivotal role in fostering social, economic, and cultural integration and in promoting many of the competences identified by the European Union as critical to succeed in today’s labor market.

Title: ICT skills at the intermediate level in South Africa: Insights into private provision and labour market demand
Authors: Salim Akoojee, Fabian Arends, Joan Roodt
Pages: 72 pp.
ISBN: 0-7969-2198-9
Publisher: HSRC Press
Date published: 2007
Date accessed: 18/06/2009
Type of information: research publication
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf, 1,1mb)
Abstract:
Both the government and the private sector have recognised the invaluable role that information and communication technology (ICT) plays in responding to national socio-economic imperatives. The importance of ICT skills to the economic, social and political trajectory in a globalised context cannot therefore be over-emphasised. The potential of, and limitations to, intermediate-level ICT skills in so far as they contribute to South Africa’s human resource capacity is considered essential to the current form and future trajectory of the country’s development.

This research monograph examines the supply of, and demand for, intermediate-level ICT skills in South Africa through a study of selected training providers, giving insight into key elements of demand. People interested in current developments in the ICT training field, as well as legislators and regulators of the industry, will find this research monograph essential reading.

Title: e-Skills
Authors: Jan Philipp Schmidt and Christoph Stork
Pages: 25 pp.
Series Towards Evidence-based ICT Policy and Regulation: Volume One 2008 Policy Paper Three
Publisher: ResearchICTAfrica (RIA)
Date published: 2008
Date accessed: 18/06/2008
Type of information: research publication
Language: English
On-line access: yes (pdf, 1,1mb)
Abstract:
The focus of this paper is to link e-skills to readily available indicators and assess the quality of indicators currently used to capture e-skills. For this purposes an index is constructed from self-reported confidence levels for a range of typical computing and Internet skills. This research adds one tile to the overall picture by identifying an indicator that captures e-skills better than existing indicators in use.