Boys in Care

Funded under the Gender Equality Programme of the European Union's DG Justice, it ran from February 2017 to January 2019 in Germany, the project leader, Austria, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Italy. The project aimed at bringing young people closer to care professions, all too often the preserve of women.

Kindergarten teachers, nurses, educators, social workers: these are the professions dealing with personal care that are taken up by few male individuals. Stereotypes and antiquated notions of masculinity that tend to exclude those professions considered 'for women’ are to be blamed. Therefore, they must be overcome to achieve gender equality in our society and allow everyone to follow their inclinations and potential.

The project, which started from an analysis of the situation in different European countries, promoted training courses for teachers and people involved in educational guidance, and launched initiatives to bring young people closer to the care professions.

The Institute, which has been dealing with these issues for years, actively participated in the project and also produced a research report.