Publications - ACCC International

Volume 4, Issue 2, 1999
Table of Contents

Promoting Technology and Training for Women and Development

By Cheryl M.G. Robertson
Principal, New Brunswick Community College - Saint John

How are Canadian colleges promoting women in development through technology training? Each person has a unique perspective from which to answer this question. My perspective is not that of an expert but that of a female professional educator, with experience as a teacher, guidance counselor, vice-principal, university instructor, coordinator of student services, dean and, more recently, as principal. So, my answer to the question is that we must first choose how to interpret the word "technology."

In a broad sense, we can refer to technology as that which the college system commonly understands as "trades and technologies." These are the highly-skilled crafts such as plumbing and electronics and also the science of technical processes in a wider but related field of knowledge such as industrial technology which embraces the chemical, mechanical and physical services. Encompassing such a wide definition, technology becomes pervasive, impacts on many different aspects of our lives and continues to change rapidly in both developed and developing countries.

Based on the premise that it is essential that women not only benefit from technology but also participate in the process from the decision to the application, monitoring and evaluating stages1, Canadian colleges and institutes, such as the New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) network, have taken on the challenge of attracting women to trades and technologies, particularly the engineering technologies.

Women have traditionally enrolled in strong, often dominant numbers in health-related technologies such as medical laboratory, respiratory therapy and nuclear medicine. At NBCC - Saint John, over half of the programs offer education and training in trades and engineering technologies. Regretfully, these programs are still considered non-traditional for women and female graduates constitute only 18 percent of the total number of graduates. Data from most colleges across the country reflect similar evidence.

Although progress has been made in attracting women to non-traditional programs, most adult women and young women graduating from high schools still do not "see" themselves performing the work required of those occupations to which trades and technology training leads. In Canada, many women are not yet encouraged or afforded meaningful opportunities to explore their interests, aptitudes and abilities in these non-traditional occupations.

When we cast our gaze farther abroad and learn about other countries and their track records in women’s involvement in education at all levels, including policymaking, we see that generally women are vastly under-represented in technology education and training programs and subsequently in the accompanying occupations. The report of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 cites participants as seeing "education as a human right and an essential tool for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace." There was wide recognition that "equality of access to and the attainment of educational qualifications is necessary if more women are to become change agents."

Investing in formal and non-formal education and training for girls and women, with its exceptionally high social and economic return, has proved to be one of the best means of achieving development and economic growth that is both sustained and sustainable. The Fourth World Conference generated six strategic objectives under its "Education and Training of Women" theme. Participating countries were challenged to respond aggressively with a view to marked improvements before the next world conference. When designing, delivering, marketing and evaluating Canadian college and institute educational programs and services offered nationally and internationally, we should ask ourselves how effectively our efforts are contributing to the achievement of these objectives?

Six Objectives - Six Questions

1. Ensure equal access to education

Discrimination in female access to education persists in many places owing to a number of factors and barriers.

Question: What are ACCC member institutions doing to eliminate gender disparities relative to access to all areas of higher education, including the full and equal participation of women in educational administration and policy decision-making?

2. Eradicate illiteracy among women

More than two thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women; the high rate of illiteracy prevailing in most developing countries remains a severe impediment to women’s advancement and to the country’s development.

Question: What are colleges and institutes doing to expand the definition of literacy so that it is promoted in concert with life skills and scientific and technological knowledge?

3. Improve women’s access to vocational training, science and technology and continuing education

Women should be able to benefit from the ongoing acquisition of knowledge and skills throughout life, recognizing that lifelong learning includes knowledge and skills acquired in both formal and informal settings.

Question: What are colleges and institutes doing to provide information to girls and women regarding the benefits of vocational programs in technology and programs of continuing education?

4. Develop non-discriminatory education and training

Gender biased curricula and teaching materials reinforce traditional female and male roles which deny women opportunities for full and equal partnership in society.

Question: What are colleges and institutes doing to ensure that curricula, texts, and materials are free of gender-based stereotypes for all levels of education, including teacher training for gender-sensitive teaching? Are we doing our best to attract female teachers/instructors in our technology programs?

5. Allocate sufficient resources and monitor the implementation of educational reforms

The resources allocated to education, particularly for girls and women, are in many countries insufficient resulting in long-term adverse effects on human development.

Question: Is the Canadian government, through its foreign aid programs (eg. CIDA-funded projects) not only establishing technical assistance programs to address gender equity issues, but also effectively monitoring the efforts by those who deliver the programs? How effectively is ACCC self-auditing in this area?

6. Promote life-long educational training for girls and women

Access to and retention of girls and women at all levels of education is a factor of their continued progress in professional activities; nevertheless, females are still concentrated in a limited number of fields of study.

Question: Are Canadian colleges working to ensure the availability of a broad range of educational and training programs, creating flexible education for life-long learning and facilitating transitions at all stages of women’s lives?

The questions posed by these six objectives may be relevant for Canadian colleges and institutes but they may have differing meanings and implications for different countries. When working abroad with international partners on these strategic objectives, whether articulated or implied, Canadian Technical Assistants must always be sensitive to the intricacies of the partner’s culture and to the direction taken when promoting the role of women in technology. With a reputation for collaboration and partnerships, Canadian colleges and institutes are positioned to make meaningful and lasting contributions to individual women’s lives and to a country’s development through the provision of technological programs and services to women. We must fully acknowledge, to ourselves and our international partners, the privilege and the responsibility of these commitments both in Canada and overseas.

1. "Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women", Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (95-31259E).