ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The report which follows could not have been prepared without the assistance of the eight members of CCLOW's Advisory Committee Terry Dance, Joan Brown-Hicks, Dawn Elliot, Nancy Jackson, Dorothy MacKeracher, Carol Powell-Ariano, Aisla Thomson, and Susan Witter and at least 50 other women and men from across the country. The broadly-based nature of the research, together with the limited time and resources available to it have made it impossible to give adequate attention to all the concerns raised and ideas offered during the course of the study. For this, and any other errors, I apologize. That said, it is my hope that the report of the study will prove to be useful in some way to all those women who contributed to it -- and to many others as well.

Susan Wismer,
October 31, 1987

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This is the report of a study carried out on behalf of the Canadian Congress on Learning Opportunities for Women (CCLOW). The study analyses the implementation and impact on women of Canadian federal and provincial education and training policies. The particular focus of the study is on the impact of and need for policy regarding issues related to access, privatization, and outcomes.

The analytical framework for this study assumes that CCLOW and its members are committed not only to achieving greater equality for women under current social and economic conditions, but also to creating structural changes in society which will result in the development of a new and more equitable socio-economic reality for Canada. Education and training then, are viewed not only as critical to the improvement of women's situation in the short-term, but also as a bridge from current realities to a new and structurally different future.

Behind the framework also lie some assumptions about the kind of information which is necessary for policy development, from the particular perspective of voluntary women's organizations. It seems that the kind of changes that CCLOW and similar organizations would like to see are unlikely to emerge as a 'natural' result of the continuation of current trends. It is important then, to examine not only what is with respect to policy, but also what ought to be, and where the impetus for needed policies and programs can come from.

Voluntary Organization and Policy-Making

Results of our research identified a number of critical factors in successful development and influencing of public policy. Among these were: maintaining a strong public profile, having a well-developed ability to build coalitions around identified issues, and having publicly credible leadership. In addition, and of particular importance to this project were the following:

The successful influencing of public policy is directly related to the ability of an organization to take a clear and focused position on a particular issue, and then to support that position with high quality independent research. In the area of education and training for women, both governments and other voluntary organizations look to CCLOW for leadership.

One implication of privatization is that groups like CCLOW will have to find ways to apply policy development and lobbying skills developed with primary reference to the federal public sector, to influencing policy at the regional level and within private sector groups.