A call for affirmative action has gone out - again. Colleges, which express clearly a commitment to educational leadership in their communities, must look hard at the situation of women and implement steps to achieve equality. The first could be taken in each college, or at the system level, by stating that affirmative action is not only a philosophical ideal but a practical necessity. Affirmative action is not just convenient or in the interests of public relations, but is also a social imperative. Data collection, affirmative action plans, and provisions for monitoring the move to system-wide employment equity are three actions the women of B.C. must demand.

Many women in the college system in B.C. work very hard to protect access for women. The College-Institutes Educators' Association (C-IEA), representing thirteen regional colleges, has a Status of Women committee that considers issues of women's access to education and to employment in the college system.

Their information is used to lobby the government to improve access for women. In other ways, individual women work to provide a bridge for others, and there are still one or two colleges that have programs designed to encourage women to find education suited to their personal and financial needs.

Women's access and employment equity is not a priority for the government of B.C. and it is therefore not a priority for the college system. International education is one of the new priorities for post-secondary education and it is wonderfully ironic that we are re-tooling our educational system to accommodate Pacific Rim needs when those of the women of B.C. are steadily ignored. On the subject of women's issues, this government and this system is silent. The women of B.C. wait.

Wendy Burton teaches writing, public speaking and interpersonal communication skills at Fraser Valley College in B.C.