The next biggest area of female enrolments is in business which includes business education, word processing, and business computer programming. While these three courses do provide skills training for these 36% of female enrolees, the danger is that they may be in training for the unemployment lines of five years from now.

Only 17.5% of female enrolees are receiving training directly leading to employment, and training attuned to identified labour market demand. These women are enrolled in trades and technologies such as electrical engineer technician, scientific computer programming, and machinist.

A comparative look at the distribution of male trainees shows that 85% of males are enrolled in training directly leading to employment including the 2.3% enrolled in business, specifically in business computer programming. A mere 15% are enrolled in pre-skill courses, well below the 25% of Nova Scotia males with literacy problems (MacDonald, 1983).

A comparison of the distribution within classes on the basis of minimal participation of males and females shows that there are more classes taking place with no women enrolled than with no men enrolled. More than 52% of classes are operating with no more than two women enrolled. This looks suspiciously like tokenism at its worst, and in addition, puts those women into stressful positions of isolation and potential harassment. This is not a positive approach to attracting women to non-traditional training and employment.

One question which arises is whether women are, in fact, truly interested in accessing education and training. Is it possible that women are socialized into thinking that education and training are not relevant to their lives because "we will all grow up to be supported by a man"? A recent study, One In Every Five: A Survey of Adult Education in Canada, shows that the majority of participants in adult education (defined as all organized educational activities taken outside of a full-time program) are women - 56% of the participants when self-selection, not referral, is the basis for participation. On average, 21% of all women 17 years and over participated in adult education with the highest participation group for either men or women being that of women 25-34 years, which had a participation rate of 31%. Twenty-nine per cent of women in the labour force participated in an adult education course, as compared with 21% for men. Whether in or out of the labour force, the proportion of women who took a course exceeded the proportion of men.

Among white collar workers, women were more apt to be enrolled (30%) than men (22%). In blue collar work, women's over-all participation rate was the same as the rate for men (16%). Women were less likely to be enrolled in job related courses. Only 39% of enrolments were women taking this type of adult education. A look at the sources of financial support for these courses may explain the difference in participation rates here.

One In Every Five: A Survey of
Adult Education in Canada,
states that:

THE TUITION OF MORE THAN SEVEN IN TEN WOMEN WAS PAID EITHER BY THE WOMEN THEMSELVES OR BY THEIR FAMILIES, WHEREAS JUST HALF OF THE MEN PAID THEIR OWN WAY. IN FACT, MORE THAN A THIRD OF THE MEN HAD THEIR FEES PAID BY THEIR EMPLOYERS.

Women have clearly indicated their desire for education and training. What can be done to improve women's access and participation in such programs, particularly publicly-funded training?