Dreaming is difficult for women. It goes against so much of our socialization. We are all familiar, with the various statistics and stereotypes that describe women's traditional place in the work force, the result of this socialization process. Women work in job ghettos, they are secretaries, clerks, teachers, social service workers, sales clerks, bank tellers, waitresses. They are less likely to climb corporate ladders or to become electricians, plumbers or welders. They frequently work in part-time positions with no benefits or job security.

For society, the problem of women's position in the labour force will require massive changes: legislative reforms, institutional change (eg. how day care and training are provided), a great change in attitudes and social norms. In our work as career counsellors with individuals, we see the causal ties of the current statistics and social norms.

Although the career counsellor is not an agent of social change, she is a facilitator of a kind of individual change which can lead to social change. She helps women to see beyond the limited self definition which society imposes. She helps them to dream beyond the stereotyped images of women's work. She helps individual women to fight the social expectation that her need for fulfillment is not important. She encourages her to contemplate being a successful, ambitious and powerful individual who can make an impact on the world.

Giving women permission to dream is the vital link between a limited self concept which society imposes and the development of personal visions which can expand society's notions of women's capabilities. That is why it is such an important dimension to career planning. When we support a woman's dream, we are helping her and all women to find a way to make career satisfaction a real possibility.

Sue Berlove is a career counsellor in private practice in the Toronto area.