26 January, 2023

Great to see the 4th e-zine from the WeRin consortium is now available to download at https://werinproject.eu/e-zine/.

An enjoyable read and relevant to all who are interested in women’s entrepreneurship. This issue provides further information about the project consortium:

• colleagues from Istanbul Technical University identify the lessons they have learned through the project activities;
• a reflective interview with the director of Impact Hub Amsterdam on how they are supporting women entrepreneurs, and 
• a spotlight section highlighting successful role model entrepreneurs.

The ezine features MTU's Hincks Centre and Rubicon Centre in three separate articles. In the first article, Hincks Centre researchers, Dr Sarah Davis and Dr Ana Cruz Garcia, presented the WeRin psychological nudging materials to MTU entrepreneurship students. They encouraged the students to develop psychological nudges that would improve the entrepreneurial ecosystems to encourage more women to feel they belong.

In the second article, the Hincks Centre and Rubicon Centre organised a workshop about developing a community of practice for the consortium partner organisations. Our MTU colleague Michelle O’Keeffe shared her comprehensive PhD work on scoping and setup for a community of practice with the WeRin partners in a 2-hour workshop.

The third article, authored by Dr Ana Cruz Garcia, challenges gender neutrality in the entrepreneurial ecosystems based on data collected from women entrepreneurs in Ireland. An article titled “Pushing your horrible rock up the hill : Challenging gender neutrality in the entrepreneurial ecosystem through a framework of root metaphors” was authored by Dr Sarah  Davis and Ana based on the Irish WeRin data from women entrepreneurs. A paper was presented at the ISBE 2022 conference in York in England by Ana and received positive feedback.

MTU are leading on the next WeRin project phase which builds capacity to understand and improve gender inclusivity in entrepreneurship education and develops an active and engaged community of practice.

Further information about the project is available at https://werinproject.eu/ or by contacting Sarah.Davis@mtu.ie or Ana.CruzGarcia@mtu.ie.

Disclaimer: This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.