Prescription for an Ailing Jobs Strategy

Mark Rubin, George Brown College

To improve both the quantity and quality of training offered to women under CJS, we make these suggestions:

Increase overall funding to C.J.S.

Give priority in funding to public and non-profit, community-based training organizations.

Develop a national campaign to encourage women to
enter non-traditional or newly emerging occupations which pay a good salary by:

• identifing such occupations which might be of interest to women;
  
  
• organizing outreach initiatives to potential women applicants;
  
  
• increasing and expanding bridging programs for women which teach generic and transferable skills;
  
  
• increasing the length of training permitted under C.J.S. programs;
  
  
• encouraging private-sector employers to train women in new careers by varying the rate of financial subsidies. (An employer training five clerical workers in word processing would receive less than an employer training five clerical workers in management skills);
  
  
• requiring a financial commitment to training from private-sector employers;
  
  
• setting quotas on the type of training (traditional or non-traditional) subsidized by the federal government. (The government should adopt a proactive role).

Adopt a clear policy of favoring cooperative, decentralized, contractual arrangements between educational institutions and private or voluntary trainers to provide the most appropriate experiences for trainees. Promote sharing of resources to make the best use of each partner's expertise.

Set targets or quotas for the percentage of women to be trained in all C.J.S. programs, and identify concrete measures by which trainers can achieve these targets.

Establish clear attestation, monitoring, and evaluation mechanisms for all C.J.S. programs.

Provide training for trainers.

Coordinate the approval process for C.J.S. projects to ensure that there is no duplication of existing training programs.

Continue to give funding priority to training for social assistance recipients to ensure this group of under-educated women equal access to training and employment opportunities.

Terry Dance and Susan Witter