I was checking through my emails this minute and I was looking at the e-tender notifications about new projects etc.
One particular post caught my attention, which concerns me, which annoys me, which makes we worry that we are taking certain agendas to a stupid extreme.
Development programme targeted at female entrepreneurs in Irish rural areas
“The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland, intends issuing a public tender in 2016 for the provision (by one single service provider) of a national development programme targeted at nascent female entrepreneurs in Irish rural areas”
Programmes that encourage entrepreneurship in rural areas is a fantastic idea.
Programmes that encourage entrepreneurship in any areas is a fantastic idea.
Programmes that promote female entrepreneurship specifically are wrong, silly, discriminatory and it strikes me that we are totally losing the run of ourselves with the gender equality agenda.
The fantastic women that I work with every day don’t need any special “pass”.
It’s about ‘equality’ folks, not the opposite.
Tags: Cork, Dublin, female entrepreneurship, Fuzion PR, Gender equality, Graphic Design, Greg Canty, ireland, Marketing
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 
February 25, 2016 at 9:49 pm |
Agree
February 26, 2016 at 12:30 am |
Would an initiative like this strike a chord with some women that, yes they’re being supported and that these programmes aren’t going to be just handed out to traditional male entrepreneurs?
If a significant group (in this case, women) are underrepresented then it makes sense to focus efforts on bringing them into play. I don’t know if that’s the case here, but I can see it as a justification for the programme.
February 27, 2016 at 5:19 pm |
Thanks Fergal …I just don’t see how any programme should be male or female. It doesn’t sit right with me, Greg
March 4, 2016 at 1:04 am
I know what you mean – it should be a level playing field.
Imagine though, if your playing field was level, but one team arrived there by bus, while the other had to run twenty miles. The pitch might be level but one team would still have a distinct advantage.
I came across this image a while back and it struck home:
See what you think.
March 6, 2016 at 6:29 pm
That’s interesting Fergal … getting “equity” right could be tricky but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try!
March 7, 2016 at 4:55 am
For sure – once you get the ball rolling it may take on a momentum of its own.