European Social Fund in England

Gender and Equal Opportunities within the European Social Fund

The focus of the Gender and Equal Opportunities within the European Social Fund research is on equal opportunities as a cross-cutting theme, looking at how equal opportunities is being integrated into all aspects of the programme.

Aim and Objectives

The aim of the study is to examine the effectiveness of equal opportunities policy and practice within ESF, in the context of helping to tackle the barriers experienced by each of the equality groups, which includes:

• examining organisational policies within projects as they relate to equal opportunities and the mainstreaming of equal opportunities
• drawing upon research on participation and outcomes of different equality groups and examining the factors affecting participation, including discrimination; and
• making recommendations for good practice to encourage equal opportunities on ESF projects.

The objectives of this study are to:

• identify examples of good practice by CFOs and providers which can be disseminated or mainstreamed more widely in the second half of the programme
• examine progress towards implementing the Managing Authority mainstreaming action
• evaluate equal opportunity processes at various levels of ESF
• examine management information and survey data on participation and achievements by gender, age, disability and ethnicity; and
• identify significant trends and comparisons with other programmes (e.g. how does ESF performance compare with New Deal, Train to Gain, etc?).

Methodology

The study draws on the statistical analysis in the Cohort Study and Management Information. Qualitative research will be the major research methodology. Face to face interviews will be undertaken with a variety of stakeholders at each level which will include the Managing Authority, CFOs and providers.

When will the research take place?

Interviews took place during September to December 2009. Findings from the study were published on 20 July 2010.

Where can I find more information?

Information about NatCen can be found here: www.natcen.ac.uk