Recent statistical data confirms a persisting high gender imbalance in ICTprofessions with women accounting for less than 20% of computersystems designers, analysts and programmers in the EU27. This meanswomen miss important employment opportunities in a sector that isdriving European economic growth and greatly depends on skilledworkers and on consumers who take up technological innovation. Sinceaction in this area has been rather piecemeal through individual studies,projects or initiatives at national, European or international level, there isa need for a comprehensive European resource centre for gendermainstreaming in VET for the ICT sector. The Gender-IT project aims toaddress this by building a sustainable multi-stakeholder network atEuropean level focusing on this topic.To this end it will map, analyse and relay the relevant information,focusing on statistics, policies and projects among the 30 countriesparticipating in the Lifelong Learning Programme, and beyond . Thepartners will identify both gaps in available knowledge and good practicesthrough benchmarking. They will develop and pilot a peer review servicefor VET providers and identify trends and their impacts on VET practice.Special emphasis will lie on awareness raising, network building, liaisonand exploitation to achieve high visibility, engage stakeholders, createsynergies and achieve sustainability. Key outputs will include a researchdatabase, a benchmarking report, a peer review handbook, a report ontrends and impacts, a dissemination and exploitation database, a projectweb-portal, e-newsletters, press releases, promotional events and asustainability plan for the network itself.As a multi-stakeholder network Gender-IT targets a range of differentactors including VET training institutions, trainers and their associations;policy makers; social partners; enterprises; researchers, and guidanceand counselling professionals. It also aims to sensitise the mediacommunity and ultimately to prompt women to consider ICT careers whileengaging female ICT professionals as role models or mentors. In this waythe network will contribute to trans-national cooperation among actors inthe ICT sector while promoting innovative practices and attractiveness ofVET in the sector.Thematic Domain / Topic: The Gender-IT network aims to foster gendermainstreamingin VET for the ICT sector.