Defining the Problem

The undereducated adult in Canada is a phenomenon which has always existed, the result of many different factors. With the advent of free, compulsory (to age 14) elementary and secondary education, it was assumed that the undereducated adult would soon vanish and that Canadian society would be blessed with universal literacy. This thinking ignored the following:

• many new immigrants to Canada are undereducated in their own countries.
• many immigrants come from countries in which compulsory education extends only to grade 5.
• many older adults received a substandard education before compulsory education was extended to its present level.
• many adults dropped out of school after age 14 without any real grasp of the fundamental skills.
• many adults complete secondary school without having obtained a practical working form of the fundamental skills.
• adults who do not use their fundamental skills regularly, tend to become less proficient over time.

Women are particularly prone to be affected by the first and the last two of these factors. It should also be noted, in passing, that three out of four illiterate adults were born in Canada.

The undereducated woman is at a far greater disadvantage in relation to current learning opportunities than either the educated woman or the under-educated man. An educated woman will have as obstacles to entry into learning opportunities:

• finding financial support.
• finding appropriate support services. eg. child care and transportation.
• finding appropriate learning opportunities. Since we can assume that admission criteria will not be a major problem, this selection can be made from among all available programs.
• overcoming stereotypic attitudes about what a woman should be learning and how a woman should be using her time, money and energy.
• overcoming her (potential) image of herself as inadequate to operate in the larger society or in post-secondary educational institutions.
• dealing with conflicting roles, time pressures, guilt and family feelings.

An undereducated man will have as obstacles to entry into learning opportunities:

• finding financial support
• finding appropriate learning opportunities from among a restricted number; restricted as to type and admission criteria
• overcoming stereotypic attitudes about undereducated persons
• overcoming his (potential) image of himself as an inadequate learner.

An undereducated woman will have as obstacles to entry into learning opportunities all items on both previous lists plus:

• all support services must last twice as long as those required for an educated woman. That is, financial assistance, child care and transportation subsidies must last for the period of time spent acquiring the fundamental skills and/or credentials, plus the period of time in further learning programs. Therefore, her support needs will cost at least twice as much as those required by her educated sister.
  
  
• support services for undereducated women are more expensive than those for undereducated men since the former may require both child care and transportation, while the latter probably only require transportation.
  
  
• the prevailing stereotypic attitudes toward women engaging in activities outside the home; toward women as "secondary" or "marginal" members of the labour force who don't deserve further training because of their low level of real contribution; and toward under-educated adults as being failures, will work together to place the under educated woman at the lowest priority levels in terms of service provision and financial assistance.

In this paper we have taken the position that undereducated women are at a special disadvantage vis-a-vis the educational system; and that CCLOW needs to pay special attention to the needs and problems of this group and to develop policy in this area.