DAISSy Research Group of the Hellenic Open University (HOU) has completed the national report on the skills gap in the business management education and the workplace regarding the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) competencies in Greece. The report presents the findings of the research conducted, within the framework of the project “Equality, Diversity, Inclusion For improving the qualitY of Management EDUcation, training and professions (EDIFY-EDU)”, by DAISSy-HOU, as the Greek academic partner, in cooperation with the second EDIFY-EDU Greek labour partner, the Development Entity of the Chamber of Achaia (ACHADE).

Specifically, the findings are an outcome of a thorough research carried out from all project’s national project partners by applying various methods under a specific, common methodology. In Greece, DAISSy-HOU carried out a semi-systematic review of undergraduate business courses (EQF level 6), identifying thirty (30) Programmes/Courses at bachelor’s degree, related to management, business administration, management science and related fields. Furthermore, DAISSy-HOU conducted four (4) focus groups; three (3) with professionals from the labor market with a few of them being also PhD students and one (1) focus group with postgraduate students of Management of Business Administration (MBA) from the Department of Business Administration of the University of Thessaly (UTH). Lastly, DAISSy-HOU interviewed eleven (11) participants, and in addition, ACHADE, the Greek business partner, conducted five (5) video interviews related to EDI, targeting an overview of existing best practices.

Overall, the Greek national report summarizes the competencies identified during the desk research analysis in relation to business management courses but also the competencies recognized as the most important from the qualitative findings of the in-depth interviews and focus groups on EDI topics towards the European frameworks of EntreComp, DigComp and LifeComp.

Specifically, the report highlights the need for an improved undergraduate business education, as outlined by the European Commission, that embeds equality, diversity and inclusion and can contribute to alleviating existing gendered labour market and workplace EDI discriminatory practices. It provides insights into the social impact of existing and emerging labour market laws and policies and discusses the discrepancies between current policies and practices providing a recommended list of competencies needed to address EDI issues at the workplace. These competencies are aligned to the European frameworks (EntreComp, LifeComp and DigComp) and have been considered in the design and development of the upcoming micro credential modules for the EDIFY-EDU Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

The EDIFY-EDU is a three-year project co-funded by the ERASMUS+ Programme of the European Union and is coordinated by the DUN LAOGHAIRE IADT-Institute of Art, Design and Technology (Ireland) with eleven (11) partners in six (6) EU member states (Ireland, Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Greece) and three associated partners in Germany, Italy and Belgium. The DAISSy Research Group of the HOU and the Achaia Chamber Development Entity (ACHADE) are the two partners thoroughly linked for the effective implementation of the project activities in Greece, embracing also a number of respective stakeholders aiming at the multiple exploitation of the project results and its impact.

Stay tuned and check the executive summary of the Greek National report at: https://www.edifyeduproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/GREECE-Executive-Summary-of-the-National-Report.pdf

For more information on the EDIFY-EDU project, and other activities of DAISSy-HOU:

• Website : https://daissy.eu/,  https://www.edifyeduproject.eu/
• Facebook : @DAISSyResearchGroup
• LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/daissyresearchgroup/   https://www.linkedin.com/company/edify-edu/
• Twitter : https://twitter.com/daissy_research
• Instagram : @daissy_researchgroup
• Email : info@daissy.eap.gr