Course overview

This course is part of the Erasmus+ KA220-SCH project “Digital Bridges Over the Gender Gap”
Its main purpose is to raise awareness of gender equality, to challenge gender stereotypes (especially in STEM fields), and to support female students’ empowerment and more inclusive career choices.
It is directed at multiple stakeholder groups: students (ages approx. 13–18), female and male; teachers; parents; school administrators and broader community actors.

Materials include e-modules within an LMS platform aimed at breaking gender stereotypes and offering innovative and creative educational materials.

How you can utilise this course

Given your roles in higher education quality, instructional design, and applied linguistics, here are ways you can make practical use of this course:

• Curriculum integration: Embed one or more of the modules into a university course or a teacher-training workshop. For example, use Module 4 (“Building Gender-Inclusive Classrooms”) as part of a professional development session for lecturers or future teachers.
• Blended learning design: In blended education, you could use the LMS and e-module content as the online component, then organise in-person seminars or workshops where participants reflect on and apply the material (e.g., discussing case studies, designing inclusive classroom activities, role-playing parent-teacher collaboration).
• Translation/localisation: You might adapt or translate content for your context, not featured in the current version of the course.You could further contextualise examples to your institutional setting, culture, or student group.
• Student engagement: Use with student-groups (ages 13-18) in line with your professional orientation. For example, in a module on STEM career promotion, you could ask students to explore the notion of “success depends on effort not gender” (one of the project objectives).
• Parent / community outreach: e.g. Use Module 5 to engage parents or families in sessions on how they can support girls in science or non-traditional fields. You might run workshops or information sessions for parents and community stakeholders.
• Adaptation for higher education: Adapt modules for first‐ or second‐cycle higher education contexts (e.g., bridging gender gaps in university STEM programmes, or in translation/linguistics specialisations). The themes of barrier-identification, stereotype-busting, inclusive classroom practices are relevant across educational levels.
• Quality assurance & institutional policy: You might use this course as a model or resource when designing policies or guidelines for gender equality in your institution. The objectives of fostering sustainability of gender equality and developing innovative educational methods/technology are relevant.

Suggested roadmap for implementation

1. Survey stakeholders (teachers, students, parents) to assess current attitudes and practices regarding gender in education in your institution.
2. Select one or two modules to pilot (e.g., Module 1 + Module 4).
3. Design a blended session: Online e-module completion + in-person discussion/ workshop.
4. Localise content: Adapt to national context (language, cultural examples) and your institution’s structure.
5. Track outcomes: e.g. Use Module 9’s theme (“Evaluating Progress and Overcoming Resistance”) to set KPIs (e.g., number of girls choosing STEM-related subjects, teacher changes in practice, parent engagement).
6. Embed for sustainability: e.g. Use Module 10 (“Sustaining Long-Term Change”) to plan how the initiative becomes embedded in institutional policy, teacher training, student orientation programmes.
7. Share and scale: Disseminate findings across departments or partner institutions; consider peer-learning communities of teachers and students.