CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

As this study has shown, some women have made considerable progress in the last ten years in the areas of education, training and employment. However, a great deal must still be done, particularly for educationally disadvantaged women, before a women achieve equality of access and opportunity in these three areas.

In addition, it must be noted that the gains women have made are not necessarily the result of Decade initiatives but are a continuation of trends begun well before International Women's Year. Indeed, it may have been that the increases women had already made in education and employment were part of the impetus that ultimately led to the Decade for Women.

In this final section, overall Conclusions about the Decade are discussed and a number of areas where changes must be made before women achieve equality with men are outlined.

EDUCATION
Canadian women have made measurable progress over the Decade in attaining levels of education much closer to that of men.

• Half of all community college and university under-graduates are now women.
• More than 40% of graduate students are women.
• For university trained women, significant increases have occurred in the number of women in virtually all non-traditional areas. However, even this progress has not resulted in large numbers of women in certain areas such as Engineering (10% women), where pay is high and where work will be available in the years ahead.

Education systems have been very slow in responding to the life circumstances and family responsibilities of women generally. In particular little process has been made in accommodating such special needs groups as Native and racial minority women and women with disabilities.

• The only major adaptation made by the education system to women's special needs has been an increase in part-time university education. Over 40% of women under-graduates now take advantage of this option.

It is possible that universities have increased the availability of part-time studies for purely economic reasons rather than as an attempt to provide easier access to women. That is, as the number of 15-24 year old in the population declines, there is a need to increase the enrollment of "mature" students, many of whom need the option of part-time study.

To date, availability of part-time study has been heavily concentrated in the disciplines which are traditional for women. Success in recruiting greater numbers of women to the non-traditional disciplines will require the provision of increased access to part-time study in these fields as well.

Such a systemic response would acknowledge that many women, particularly those over 25, must often combine both work and family responsibilities with their pursuit of higher education. Given that child-care shortages are acute, that many women students are single parents and that even those women who are married are responsible for the greatest share of household and child-related tasks, part-time study is an essential aspect of facilitating women's access to post-secondary education.

While longitudinal information is not available regarding other adaptations of the education system to women (e.g., child-care, transportation, distance education), it is clear that these options have not become an integral part of the system, as they must if women are to have equal access to educational opportunities.