7. My impression from all my reading in the area of women and learning, is that some of the obstacles and learner needs translate well into potential services provided by educational institutions or other agencies. These include day care services, counselling services, transportation services, flexibility in scheduling, a wider variety in course selection, and so on. Other obstacles and needs translate into problems the learner must work at solving for herself, possibly with support from educational agencies. These include low self-esteem, poor concept of self as learner, family-related obstacles, time conflicts, and so on. Still other obstacles and needs suggest the development of some normative-reeducative activities by groups such as CCLOW, to be directed at staff personnel who work directly with women either in administration, counseling or teaching. This would require a long-term program of modeling, consciousness-raising, and friendly persuasion.

8. I have been reading about educational opportunities, learner needs, obstacles to participation, learner characteristics and so on for close to 8 months now as part of two separate projects. I have come to realize that I still have some difficult questions for which there are no answers. Some of these questions are:

• what do women gain from an educational system which often gives us nothing much better than abuse, discounting, rejection, negative stereotyping, obstacles to admission and participation, and unwillingness or inability to provide for our most basic needs? We certainly are willing to put up with all these inadequacies just for the dubious priviledge of being admitted. What makes us believe that admission to such a system is a priviledge?

• what do all those women who do not participate know that we, as participants, don't know? Maybe they are trying to tell us something important about how our current system operates; not just the male- dominated part, but also the female-run part.

• I suppose our major aim is access to the male-dominated educational system which is the major portal for admission to the male-dominated employment/economic system. If we can prove ourselves worthy as students, and can prove we can survive in such a system, then perhaps we will be welcomed into the world of work. This is clearly an illusion but we keep trying. And for those of us with an essential need to achieve economic security and survival, this is the only game in town.

• What would happen if we set up our own female oriented educational system", based on our own needs and values? Would men want to join our "game"? Could the two systems coexist? One example is provided by the Simone de Beauvoir Institute for Women's Studies of Concordia University in Montreal. The primary purpose of this institute is to provide an environment which will encourage students to maximize their personal, social and intellectual. potential. Women's studies are used to provide a cognitive framework for the affective support needs of students. ^l

• one peculiarity of the educational system is that the more education a woman has, the more she wants and the more likely she is to participate. As a result, if a woman already has a good education, she is inclined to ask for more and, therefore, gets more because she has learned how to ask. On the other hand, the less education a woman has, the less she is inclined to want, the less she asks for, the less she participates, and the less she actually gets.

^1. Official submission to Concordia University Senate for the creation of "small units, such as colleges" from the Women's College Committee, December 20,1977. The President of this Institute is Dr. Mair Verthuy.