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WorldSkills Europe and Divérs partner to increase female participation

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WorldSkills Europe and Divers have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote diversity and inclusion within the WorldSkills Europe community. (L-R) Nina Groes, Director and Founder of Divérs; Henrik Kjeldsen, EuroSkills Herning 2025 CEO; and Laurence Gates, WorldSkills Europe CEO

WorldSkills Europe and Danish diversity and inclusion foundation, Divérs, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a framework of cooperation to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the skills movement in Europe. The signing took place on 3 June 2025 in Copenhagen.

Increasing female participation in TVET

The collaboration between WorldSkills Europe and Divérs aims to tackle gender imbalances and encourage more women to pursue technical and vocational education pathways, driving a more inclusive and diverse WorldSkills movement within Europe.

WorldSkills Europe and Divérs will work together to promote awareness of potential barriers, particularly in areas where women are underrepresented, track progress in female participation, identify areas for improvement, and share best practice within the WorldSkills Europe community.

Laurence Gates, WorldSkills Europe CEO, explained the significance of this partnership:

“WorldSkills Europe’s collaboration with Divérs will help lay the groundwork to attract and retain more female talent within the WorldSkills community across Europe. Closing the gender gap is an essential if we are to unlock the full potential of the movement and ensure we have inspiring female role models for future generations.”

Nina Groes, Director and Founder of Divérs, added:

“We look forward to working ambitiously with WorldSkills Europe to improve the gender balance within the skills movement. We know that, today, within technical and vocational education and training, we have far too few women who participate in skills competitions across Europe. We want female talent to be part of history, part of the skills movement and part of the community.”

EuroSkills Herning 2025

From 9–13 September 2025, the city of Herning in Denmark will host Europe’s biggest vocational education and skills excellence event, bringing together around 600 talented young professionals under the age of 25, representing 33 WorldSkills Europe Member Countries, to compete for the title of Best in Europe in their chosen skill.

Thanks to a 17 million DKK (2.28 million Euros) grant from the Villum Foundation, EuroSkills Herning 2025 and Divérs are working together to build upon methods from the Boss Ladies project, Divérs’ core project since 2018, to improve diversity and inclusion.

This includes establishing a European network of female Ambassadors from different technical vocational fields who will serve as role models for young women in their home countries, as well as activities during EuroSkills Herning 2025.

For more information about EuroSkills Herning 2025, visit: https://euroskills2025.com