In a groundbreaking initiative aimed at transforming the landscape of R&D recruitment and gender equality in the tech industry, HardSkills, in collaboration with Competence, an organization that facilitates sustainable skill supply, connects businesses, academia, and public entities, has been awarded a grant by the Swedish Innovation Agency, Vinnova. This funding of SEK 488,000 will support the development of a pioneering tool designed to identify over 800,000 undiscovered female R&D experts worldwide and provide insights into gender equality success within R&D sectors at the organizational, regional and national levels.

The project leverages untapped data resources, including 192 national patent databases, alongside unique algorithms for competency validation and AI to standardize skill requirements, addressing the semantic challenges of inaccurate job titles and missing information. This initiative aims to triple the visibility of female R&D candidates, particularly targeting those who are often not active on professional platforms like LinkedIn, thereby significantly enhancing the ability of R&D departments to find them as part of their endeavors to attain their gender equality goals.

A key outcome of this project will be the creation of a public heatmap, offering visual insights into the location of female R&D experts across 61,500 unique technological competencies. Besides this, the tool will also identify organisations and regions that have been successful in their gender equality efforts, providing valuable lessons for other organisations aiming to improve.

Competence will play a crucial role in disseminating the results to over 40 R&D-intensive member organizations, presenting findings at events in Sweden, and inspiring over 70,000 schoolchildren towards R&D careers, with a particular focus on encouraging more women to enter the field.

By promising to unlock a wealth of untapped talent and foster a more inclusive and diverse R&D landscape, this partnership and the resulting tool represent a significant step forward in the quest for gender equality within the tech industry.

This initiative aligns with Vinnova's thematic call for ‘New Tools and Methods for Gender Equality in Digital Technology Development,’ which aims to strengthen the competitiveness of Swedish industry by ensuring that gender equality is integrated into the rapid digital transformation of Swedish industry. 

Titled ‘Global Visibility for Gender Equality – Unique Access to Undiscovered Experts and Exemplary Cases’, the project runs from November 2023 to May 2024. 

For more information about the project, please click here.

About HardSkills

Hardskills.io is a leading R&D recruitment tool developer, specializing in innovative solutions to uncover and validate hidden talent in the technology sector.

About Competence 

Competence is an economic association focused on competency supply and development, working without profit interest and politically independent. They act as an intermediary to create sustainable competency supply in the labor market, linking businesses, academia, and public operations, working with employers to recruit and retain people with the right skills through long-term strategies.

Media Contact
Company Name: HardSkills
Contact Person: Rasmus Palazzi
Email: Send Email
Phone: +46793470316
Country: Sweden
Website: https://www.hardskills.io