This program is radically different from most offered through corporate training and development programs which tend to be one day seminars targeted at management and executive staff. The university preparation course extends over four months and involves long-term skill and confidence building. It is oriented to personal development and education, not simply job skill; it supports the concept of lifelong learning by preparing women to enter university at any time in their lives. The program has become a vehicle for women to re-define themselves as learners and those who have graduated have gone on to pursue a host of different learning opportunities.

New Skills and New Confidence

The end-of-course evaluations are consistently very positive. An excellent, over-all rating for the course is given by most participants. A thirst for information seems to have been answered; employees frequently cite specific tasks which represent challenges taken on and met: "getting used to homework," "essay writing," or overcoming "fear of essays and exams." Exploring issues relevant to women and the opportunity to meet with other Metro and City women employees have been also cited as outcomes.

The learning required in the course itself provided impetus for moving into new areas. Some participants enrolled in computer courses in order to learn word processing skills for essay writing. Others valued the course as a testing ground for future ventures. "Making up my mind about time management and the likelihood of having the time to spend on future courses and assignments" was particularly helpful to one woman.

Perhaps the most important outcome, however, is the reported impact on confidence and personal growth. Nearly all participants note that not only can they do their jobs better because of enhanced communications skills, but that their confidence has soared, motivating them to return to school, explore new career options and make changes in their lives.

This is repeatedly expressed in the evaluations with comments like: "The course builds self- confidence and puts a different slant on things"; "The most important result of the program is knowing that I can handle the work and that I was accepted at York/Atkinson. That made me feel very confident"; "The course was useful to me because it helped me to remember who I am, and where my personal experience fitted into the changes that are taking place in society."

The women evidently feel that this class, is a safe environment for self-discovery and for the attainment of skills. Through exposure to the realities of other women's lives and by daring to express their own ideas verbally and in writing, women in the university preparation class gain the courage to go the next step, whatever that may be.

Jan Kutcher works as an Employment Equity Programs Consultant in women's issues for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. Eleanor C. Ross is an Employment Equity Training Consultant for the City of Toronto whose work has involved the development of programs for women employees.

1. Susan Wismer, Women's Education and Training in Canada. Toronto: CCLOW, 1988, p.iv.
2. Metro Toronto, Equal Employment Opportunity: A Strategy for the 90's, Metropolitan Toronto, 1989, p.52.
3. Eleanor Ross & Jan Kutcher, University Preparation Course for Women Employees: Pilot Project. Report, 1991.
4. Monica Matos, remarks from an interview in 1993.
5. Statistical Reports, Metro Toronto 1991 and City of Toronto 1993.
6. Susan Booth, Judy Klie, Elizabeth Bohnen, BRIDGES to Equity Program Manual. City of Toronto, p.265.