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OCR for page 343
New Office and Business Technologies:
The Structure of Education and
(Re)Training Opportunities
BRYNA SHORE FRASER
THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING FOR WOMEN
Will the introduction of new technologies into a wide range
of business and commercial settings enhance the skill and job op-
portunities of those affected? Are existing education and training
strategies adequate to help women workers take advantage of new
opportunities, or will they only serve to maintain the existing
opportunity structure? The introduction of new office and com-
mercial technologies is of particular concern to working women,
who, in 1983, accounted for 99 percent of all secretaries, 97 percent
of typists, 92 percent of bookkeepers and bank tellers, 87 percent
of cashiers, and 70 percent of retail clerks (Serrin, 1984:A3~. This
paper seeks to determine how these types of jobs are being affected
by new computer technologies, how workers are being trained or
retrained in their use, and, wherever possible, how women's expe-
riences differ from those of men in the use of the new technologies
and in their access to training.
Studies to date on the differing ejects of technological change
on men and women are not encouraging. Data from the first
national study of technological change show that proportionately
343
OCR for page 344
344
NEW OFFICE AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES
more women than men operate machines, are more exposed to
machines that have alienating effects, and suffer more from the
negative effects of technological change. Relatively more men
operate machines that require skill and encourage work autonomy.
Moreover, the changes for men enhance their job skills and improve
their opportunities for advancement. Not so for women (Form
and McMilIan, 1983~. Gutek and Bikson (1984), in a study of 55
offices in 26 different private sector organizations, reported similar
findings. Women used computers more than men and used them
more routinely, while men's computer use was more flexible and
autonomous. The authors concluded that "nothing in our data
suggests that these 55 offices will use technological innovation as
an occasion for improving the situation of working women" (p.
16~.
A recent survey of 300 senior human resource executives in
Fortune 1500 firms found that 44 percent of the companies are
most likely to hire new employees with required skills rather than
retrain workers whose skills have become obsolete. Two other
frequently used options, cited by 40 percent of the companies,
are (1) switching employees into new positions that require no
additional skills and (2) reducing the number of employees. On
a more hopeful note, the report states that a shrinking work
force may make it more difficult for companies to rely on new
workers and may make worker retraining a more attractive long-
term solution (ITT Educational Services, 1984~. Some companies
do retrain their employees. IBM, for example, supports a policy of
full employment, meaning that employees should not lose their jobs
due to advancing technologies, among other circumstances. The
company maintains no records on the amount of retraining given
each year "because it is business as usual to move people from one
job to a totally different job" (IBM Corporation, 1985: 13~.
The most sophisticated- as well as the simplest equipment
will not increase productivity unless those using it have the knowI-
edge and motivation to make it work. Recent studies show that
the prospect of working with new technology is welcomed by most
people when it is first suggested. One recent survey of more than
500 secretaries and administrative assistants found that "office au-
tomation has been accepted with open arms" (GalIant, 1984:24~.
On a scale of emotional responses ranging from love to hate, 83
percent of the respondents said they loved the word-processing
equipment, while none expressed any hatred of the equipment.
OCR for page 345
BRYNA SHORE FRASER
345
Eighty-seven percent said they felt that their word-processing skills
would lead to new career opportunities, while 88 percent expressed
the belief that these skills would result in salary increases.
But the same survey revealed some troubling disparities be-
tween respondents' beliefs and the reality of their situations. Only
30 percent had actually received pay raises as a result of acquiring
word-processing skills, and while 75 percent said that the equip-
ment freed them from typing chores and allowed them more time
for work involving decision making, when asked what new respon-
sibilities the electronic equipment had allowed them to undertake,
almost all cited traditional secretarial tasks such as drafting letters
and researching reports.
The survey pointed to the importance of age as a factor.
Forty-eight percent of the respondents under age 25 reported pay
raises resulting from word-processing skills, compared with much
Tower figures among older secretaries. The younger secretaries said
their knowledge of word processing was more important than such
customary skills as shorthand, while the older secretaries placed
more value on traditional abilities. In addition, almost a third of
the respondents under age 25 had already had training in either
COBOL or BASIC programming, compared with a very small per-
centage of the older respondents. In another survey of more than
1,200 secretaries and 900 managers in 443 information-intensive
businesses, younger secretaries were also found to view automated
equipment more favorably than their older counterparts. In this
survey secretaries in particular cited training as the single most
important change needed when introducing automation into the
workplace. The most frequent suggestion made for improving pro-
ductivity in businesses where automation already existed was more
and better training (Keefe, 1984:233.
As new technology is introduced into more and more work
environments, changes will be needed in work skills and patterns.
Changed tasks, roles, and machine pacing must be learned. For
example, a secretary who moves from a typewriter to a word
processor has to learn to increase concentration on work (due
to the machine's sensitivity); hand-eye coordination (clue to the
speed of the information flow); and ability to respond to signs
rather than complete symbols (due to the shorthand language of
the computer). All of this learning depends, in turn, on mental
flexibility. Even under the best working conditions, it is difficult
for workers to learn so many new skills well, and all at once. Adults
OCR for page 346
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NEW OFFICE AND B USINESS TECHNOLOGIES
often cite a variety of reasons, however, for not participating in
(restraining and education programs that would help them learn
new skills. These barriers can be categorized as follows (Charner,
1980; Charner and Fraser, 1984~.
Situational factors arise out of an individual's position in a
family, workplace, or social group at a given time. Within this
category, costs, lack of time, age, Ed level of education head the
list.
Social/psychologicalfactors are related to an individual's atti-
tudes and sel£perceptions or to the influence of significant others
(family, friends, etc.) on the actions of an individual. Included
are lack of confidence in ability, feeling of being too old, lack of
interest, and lack of support from family or friends. Only small
proportions of adults report such factors as barriers to their partic-
ipation in education or training activities. Women more frequently
than men report that they feel they are too old to begin. Men, on
the other hand, cite lack of confidence in ability more than women.
Structural factors are policies and practices of organizations
that overtly or subtly exclude or discourage adults from participat-
ing in (restraining and education activities and include scheduling
problems (course and work); location and transportation prob-
lems; lack of courses or relevancy of courses; procedural problems
(red tape, credit, admission, required full-time attendance); and
information/counseling problems. These factors fall between sit-
uational and social/psychological barriers in the proportion of
adults reporting such factors as deterring their participation. Lo-
cation, scheduling, and lack of courses are most often mentioned
as barriers, with few differences among subgroups of adults.
Given the general barriers confronting adults participating in
any (re~training/education program, how does a clerical worker,
secretary, telephone operator, or any of the millions of workers in
service and retail occupations go about getting trained in up-to-
date technological skills for office and commercial settings?
The next three sections briefly describe a variety of programs
currently provided by employers, educational institutions, and
government agencies that can be used by women workers. A final
section outlines education and training policies that, if adopted,
would contribute to a smooth transition for women workers from
the old work environment to the new. One of the most impor-
tant policy areas discussed is the need for more information. In-
deed, the following description of available programs suffers from
OCR for page 347
BRYNA SNORE FRASER
347
a lack of published information. Not only do we not know how
many programs are available to which workers, we also know little
about their effectiveness. Careful review of the latest journals,
newsletters, and publications dealing with the retail trades, office
automation, computer technology, management, and training and
development yielded little in the way of gender-specific examples of
training in new office and business technology for this population.
Furthermore, most companies are reluctant to provide detailed
descriptions of company-specific training courses, and while al-
most all organizations with 500 employees or more have at least
one full-t~me person responsible for training activities, many office
and commercial enterprises employ less than 100 employees and
have no one in-house with even part-time training responsibili-
ties. Therefore, much of the program-specific information related
below has been based on the limited published material available
or on anecdotal information provided by researchers or program
sponsors.
EMPLOYER-PROVIDED EDUCATION AND
(RE)TRAINING PROGRAMS
Employer-provided training includes a wide variety of pro-
grams that are either provided or sponsored by an employer. Al-
though private and public employers provide the lion's share of
training in the United States, spending $30 billion annually accord-
ing to the American Society for Training and Development (more
than three times the amount spent by federal, state, and local
governments combined), most of these programs are concentrated
in only 20~300 of the largest companies. Furthermore, businesses
are spending more and more money on remedial math and reading
instruction rather than on focused skill training (Business-Higher
Education Forum, 1984:30~.
A substantial portion of corporate training is generally geared
to respond to changes in a company's technology, organization,
or products. In the case of technological innovation, for example,
manufacturers of office computer equipment usually provide train-
ing for employees of companies buying their equipment. There are-
no statistics on the volume of this training, but prevailing wisdom
suggests that this is a major mode of training, if not the most
important one.
OCR for page 348
348
NEW OFFICE AND B USINESS TECHNOLOGIES
Subjects in which training is provided include the operation of
computers of various sizes with aIready-prepared programs, pro-
gramming, maintenance and repair, systems management, other
management problems associated with computers, communica-
tions systems, and operation and programming of computer-as-
sisted design or manufacturing equipment.
The courses are typically brief, lasting from 1 to 5 days, al-
though some courses go on for several weeks. They tend to be
quite specific, focusing on a single mode! of equipment, use of a
single program, teaching a single programming language, and so
on. Thus, an employee wishing to advance beyond this level may
need to take additional courses to round out the skills acquired.
Moreover, since the technology is changing rapidly, the employee
mar need retraining ~ order to learn new eauinment.
O_1~ _~__ 1_ · ~ ~ · ~ ~ .. .
~elt-stuay IS used extensively. textbooks, programmed learn-
ing books, and computer-based training programs are available
for many of the subjects. A growing proportion of this material
is being produced in the form of video cassettes, computerized
instruction, satellite-transmitted teleconferences, and other ways
of allowing the necessary training to take place in many locations
and at flexible times. At the same time there continues to be much
use of traditional printed manuals. Only rarely, however, is this
material geared to the needs of a particular group.
Employer-provided/sponsored training generally falls into one
of four categories: (~) in-house programs, (2) contracts with a
postsecondary educational institution, (3) tuition assistance pro-
grams, and (4) union-negotiated (restraining programs. Various
anecdotal examples of each type of program are presented below.
IN-HOUSE PROGRAMS
In-house training programs are usually delivered by company
staff, frequently by a part- or full-time trainer. Employers either
develop their own training curricula or buy/lease prepackaged
training programs. A third option is to bring in outside consultants
to design and/or deliver training courses at the worksite.
A good example of an employer-designed and delivered pro-
gram is provided by the Intel Corporation, a manufacturer of inte-
grated circuits, which recently installed 65 personal computers in
its microprocessor division over a 6-month period (Johnson, 1985~.
OCR for page 349
BRYNA SNORE FRASER
349
Implementation activities focused on three efforts: the Continu-
ous Learning Center (CEC), the Office Systems Center (OSC),
and twice-monthly meetings for all the microprocessor division
secretaries. The CEC was designed as a place where people would
both learn how to use the PC and bring their new applications
for others to learn. The OSC provided "hot line" help for anyone
who needed immediate assistance with either the hardware or the
software. Currently, the OSC's primary activities are training and
software applications and evaluation.
To evaluate the success of the implementation process, In-
te! used as a control group secretaries who had been given the
same PCs but who had received a more conventional 8 hours of
training from in-house word-processing instructors. Based on the
self-reports of 20 microprocessor division secretaries and 9 control
group secretaries, 52 percent of the former reported an increase in
productivity compared with 15 percent of the controls; 80 percent
of the first group reported new procedures developed compared
with 10 percent of the control group; and 70 percent of the m~cro-
processor division secretaries reported new uses in place compared
with 20 percent of the control group secretaries. In addition, the
secretaries in the first group had freed up 2 hours a day they had
previously spent in typing revisions. They were using this time
to (1) support more people; (2) provide better support for their
managers (e.g., drafting routine reports previously done by their
managers); (3) eliminate the need for temporaries; and (4) de-
velop more PC skills they now have time to spend in the CEC,
as they are completing their other work in half the time it used
to take. These secretaries have become a creative source of new
applications and have been rewarded by their managers for their
creativity. They have also gained new respect within the com-
pany for their use of PCs as information tools. Further follow-up
of these different training approaches by Intel could assess the
longer-range career impacts of each approach to PC training for
secretaries.
United Virginia Bank, which purchased a computer-based
training program designed to increase the effectiveness of its teller
training efforts, provides an example of employer delivery of a pur-
chased program. The bank determined that a generic computer
training program could be purchased from a local vendor at much
less cost than developing an interactive videotape system in-house.
OCR for page 350
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NEW OFFICE AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES
The purchased program consisted of 22 lessons, supporting texts,
and other materials.
Each year, more than 100 tellers in the Richmond region, the
vast majority of whom are women, attend the bank's 4-week teller
course. The trainees in each class spend the first 4 days of their
training on the terminals. The program presents lessons and asks
the students relevant questions. It also tells them whether they
have answered correctly. Students move at their own pace. The
instructor is free to help students who require one-on-one assis-
tance; meanwhile, the rest of the class members stay busy at their
terminals. Trainees say they enjoy learning from a computer and
they now score higher on final tests 90 percent or more and are
being taught 15 percent more than with traditional methods. The
program also shaves 1 day from classroom work. Overall, United
Virginia Bank views its experience with computer-based training
very positively, and the bank intends to continue to experiment
with the concept and expand the program (Coleman, 1983~.
With the help of outside consultants, Metropolitan Life Insur-
ance Company developed a program to train 20,000 employees at
1,250 sites to use the company's recently acquired minicomputer-
based network. Metropolitan is spending more than $30 million
for the network hardware and approximately $3 million for the
training program. Applications of the system include data entry
and editing, a client data base specific to each sales office, word
processing, electronic mail, and policy and contract illustrations.
Almost all Metropolitan employees will be users of the system.
Metropolitan's training plan was developed with the help of
an outside consulting firm. Called a "top-down" training program,
it resembles an inverted pyramid in structure. Senior executives
in the personal insurance field were trained first, senior sales staff
were trained second, and key people in eight regional head offices
were trained next. Each regional office became home to a nucleus
of six to eight trainers. Next in line were the uncritical users"—
sales managers and office managers in 1,100 U.S. sales outlets.
These users traveled to the company's eight regional head offices
for training. When the sales and office managers were trained,
they became responsible for training sales office staff. The training
emphasized hands-on experience, with 20 percent of the time spent
in lectures and the rest of the time spent actively using the system
(Desmond, 1984~.
OCR for page 351
BRYNA SHORE FRASER
351
Outside consultants can also be used to deliver complete train-
ing programs. ITT Educational Services, Inc., Business Division,
offers employers complete training programs (including provision
of facilities) in such areas as automation, bank teller, computer
programming, data processing, electronic office-machine technol-
ogy, keypunch operator, retail technical sales, secretarial, telecom-
munications, and word processing. In addition to generic or
custom-designed training programs, ITT offers to take care of
Al arrangements, including site selection, employee recruitment,
student enrollment, assessment, basic/remedial education, English
as a second language, skill training, career counseling, and support
service coordination. ITT also offers more advanced training be-
yond the initial level for supervisory personnel, as well as courses
that provide part of the training at the trainee's workstation on
the job.
CONTRACTS WITH POSTSECONDARY
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Many employers, particularly those smaller businesses that do
not have an in-house training capability of their own, are contract-
ing with postsecondary educational institutions for both custom-
designed and generic training programs. A growing number of
colleges—mainly 2-year community colleges have established of-
fices or centers to offer the colleges' educational services, resources,
and facilities to local business and industry, although, overall, in-
stitutions of higher education provide only a small amount of
employer-sponsored education and training. The majority of con-
tracted programs involve a small number of employees and are of
short duration, ranging from a 1-hour seminar to a full-semester
course. These programs may be standard courses identified in the
college catalog that are presented at times and locations conve-
nient to the firm and in time blocks appropriate to circumstances;
they may be customized versions of standard college offerings; or
they may be totally new programs, structured to meet the specific
demands of the company. They may be taught by college faculty
or by instructors hired specifically for the course.
The Vermont State Colleges Office of External Programs
(OEP), for example, assists employers, particularly in small busi-
nesses, to identify their education and training needs. Through its
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NEW OFFICE AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES
Educational Brokering Service, OEP communicates these employ-
ers' needs and specifications to more than 30 educational institu-
tions in the state. Interested schools then bid on providing the
training services, with the employers making the final selection of
the desired program provider.
TUITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
A very high proportion of companies, particularly the larger
ones, have some form of tuition aid or tuition assistance programs
under which employees receive partial or full reimbursement of
the costs incurred for courses taken on their own. Generally, these
programs have a very low participation rate, particularly among
lower-level, nonmanagement employees.
Unlike most programs, the Polaroid Corporation's Tuition As-
sistance Plan has a very high rate of participation, even among
hourly employees. Polaroid has developed a systematic and com-
prehensive series of courses and programs for its employees which
includes internal education and skills training programs; technol-
ogy-based programs and seminars for technical and nontechni-
cal personnel; and career counseling workshops to help employees
determine career goals and methods for achieving them.
The Tuition Assistance Plan prepays 100 percent of the costs
of approved educational programs successfully completed by em-
ployees both hourly and salaried, with all those working 20 or
more hours per week eligible to participate in the plan on a pro-
rated basis (30 hours equals 75 percent payment). Acceptable
courses and programs include
Any basic course in reading, writing, or arithmetic
~ Courses or programs that will improve the employee's skill
on his or her present job
Courses or programs that relate to the next job in the
employee's job family
Courses or programs required or relevant to a trade or
craft licensing or certification program appropriate to the indi-
vidual's career and specific to Polaroid's need for the trade- or
craft-specific degree programs (associate, bachelor's, and gradu-
ate degrees). All engineering, science, mathematics, accounting,
finance, and secretarial programs. All general business manage-
ment, marketing, transportation, economics, journalism, nursing,
and criminal justice programs, if currently job related.
OCR for page 353
BRYNA SHORE FRASER
353
According to company figures, about 6,000 (50 percent) of its
domestic employees participated in an average of 1.5 internal or
external education and training programs in a recent year. Ten
percent of the eligible domestic work force participated in the
Tuition Assistance Plan, and of these, 40 percent were from the
hourly ranks (Knox, 1979~.
UNION- NEGOTIATED ~ RE) TRAINING PROGRAMS
Unions are very active in the support of training and retrain-
ing for their members. A number of union-negotiated agreements
call for advance notification of expected technological changes and
the retraining of those workers who would be displaced. A recent
example is the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Na-
tional Training Fund, under the retraining provisions negotiates]
with the seven regional Bell System holding companies. A provi-
sion in the agreement stipulates that retraining will be provided
for any worker who needs or desires it. Local committees have
been established in each of the seven regions and are responsible
for the development of appropriate programs in response to local
membership needs.
CWA Local 8519 has developed, through its Arizona Training
Fund (ATF), a 600-hour, 15-course curriculum leading to a Level
~ certification in telecommunications. Interested CWA members
can enroll in courses ranging from Basic Circuit Reading to Digital
Electronics as well as an elective computer literacy course. All
courses are fully accredited, and tuition costs are reimbursed by
Mountain Bell and AT&T. Of the 316 CWA members who have
taken one or more ATF courses, about 55 percent are female.
Thus far, no one has failed, but 26 persons have dropped out
with an additional 9 incompletes, resulting in an overall retention
rate of nearly 90 percent. The ATF training program- is aimed
at developing "broad, generic skills that will be useful to CWA
members inside or outside the Bell system" (Hilton, 1984:43. As a
result of their participation in the program, many CWA members
have been promoted, while others, threatened with job Toss, have
found new jobs outside the Bell companies.
Only a very small number of workers in offices and businesses
belong to a union. The majority of employees in these work settings
are dependent on employer-provided (restraining or must look to
other sources of education and training for programs.
OCR for page 362
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NEW OFFICE AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES
of the dislocated worker. Most recently, federal programs for
unemployed and disadvantaged workers have included the Com-
prehensive Employment and Paining Act of 1973 (CETA) and its
successor, the Job Training Partnership Act (]TPA); the Work
Incentive (WIN) program; and the Bade Act of 1974. The types
of training provided through these programs include machine tool,
welding, secretarial, electronics, clerical, and nursing (I`PN). The
CETA program, which focused mainly on disadvantaged workers,
relied increasingly during its life span on public sector employ-
ment as its chief mechanism, with training accounting for only
one-quarter of program expenditures by the end of the 1970s. De-
spite the negative image often associated with CETA, it was found
that the program helped raise earnings substantially for women
and male workers with little or no recent work experience (U.S.
Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, 1986:170~.
The current Job Paining Partnership Act (lTPA) is expected
to produce 800,000 to 1,000,000 trainees in fiscal year 1984 at
a cost of $3.5 billion. The bulk of this money was to support
the training of disadvantaged youth in marketable skills. In FY
1983, about $215 million was allocated under Title lIT for the
retraining of adult workers who lost their jobs in heavy industry
because of automation or the 1981-1982 recession. The program
emphasizes training in fields where job openings are increasing, i.e.,
the service industries: health care, food services, clerical work,
and computer sciences. According to the Office of Technology
Assessment (OTA), only 4 percent of eligible displaced workers
are estimated to have participated in Title ITI programs in 1983,
the majority of whom were white males (U.S. Congress, Office of
Technology Assessment, 1986:174~. In addition, OTA expresses
concern over whether displaced workers in these programs are
getting enough chances at training for new skills and occupations.
Some critics, moreover, believe that trainees, particularly women,
are being shortchanged because the program emphasizes short-
term training for low-level jobs that could be obtained without
the training (Johnson, 1984:9~.
For eligible workers (those losing jobs due to foreign compe-
tition), the liade Act of 1974 provides some important benefits
not available under Title ITI of JTPA: support payments for work-
ers in training and generous relocation assistance. The numbers
served, however, are very small and are decreasing; in 1984, only
6,538 workers entered training under the program, compared with
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BRYNA SHORE FRASER
363
20,386 in 1981 (U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment,
1986:197~.
The Work Incentive (WIN) program provides training and
employment services for Aid to Families With Dependent Children
(AFDC) participants, 90 percent of whom are women. In FY
1985, approximately 350,000 WIN participants found employment,
generally entry-level positions in maintenance/clerical fields, park
service, and human services. In keeping with the aims of the WIN
program (to help participants lessen their dependence on welfare),
the bulk of the training provided focuses on remedial education,
job search techniques, and basic occupational skills, with little
emphasis on higher-skilled technology training (Employment and
Training Reporter, 1986:647~.
Since 1980, and particularly under lTPA, local partnership
programs have been preferred as both the locus of responsibility
and service deliverer for federally funded training programs. These
partnerships take a variety of forms but, in almost every case, al-
ways include the involvement of one or more major employerts)
in the community. The presence of the employer is designed to
assure that training programs are up-to-date and provide training
in skills needed for current or projected jobs in local industry and
businesses. The programs described below are typical of the col-
laborative efforts focusing on the provision of technology training
at the state and local levels.
Word Processing Training Centers are currently operating
in 32 cities across the country. These centers are run by local
community-based organizations in partnership with the IBM Cor-
poration, with additional funding from the Job Training Partner-
ship Act. Training in word processing, computer operation, and
computer programming is provided to some 3,000 individuals an-
nually, most of whom are women in their late twenties and thirties,
although ages range from 18 to 55. The training is done on up-to-
date equipment provided and updated periodically by IBM, which
also provides loaned staff to the centers for the first 3 years of
operation, at which time centers are expected to be self-sufficient,
although IBM continues to donate and upgrade equipment.
One specific example, the Washington, D.C., Word Process-
ing Center, is operated by the Washington Urban League and
serves three main categories of workers: women returning to the
work force, workers whose jobs have been terminated, and public
OCR for page 364
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NE W OFFI CE A ND B USINESS TECHNOl O GIES
assistance recipients. Ninety-eight percent of the program partic-
ipants are female. The training course, which is promoted heavily
through local advertising, lasts for 26 weeks and consists of 6 hours
a day, 5 days a week. While no stipend is offered to trainees, they
do receive $35 a week to cover transportation, and other support
services, including counseling, are provided. The center trained
153 word processors in 1983, over 85 percent of whom were placed
in jobs with an average starting salary of $13,400. In a follow-up
of trainees placed during the center's first 3 years of operation,
75 percent had been retained by their employers, and several of
the trainees had moved up to become administrative assistants or
managers. Its operators are convinced that the program offers par-
ticipants not just entry-level skills but also the skills needed to gain
upward mobility within the employing organization. Twenty-three
new centers were added to the national program in the summer of
1985.
A state-funded cooperative effort, the Bay State Skills Corpo-
ration (BSSC) was created by the Massachusetts state legislature
in 1981 to act as a catalyst in forming partnerships between busi-
nesses and educational institutions to train workers in skills needed
by growing industries in the state. BSSC provides grants to public
or nonprofit education and training institutions, which link up
with one or more growing companies to train workers for specific
jobs. Participating companies are required to match the grant
with contributions of equipment, materials, staff time, or cash.
The training can take place at community colleges, vocational
schools, Year colleges, universities, and community-based em-
ployment and training organizations throughout the state. The
training is not restricted to unemployed or poor individuals. Be-
cause employers' major criteria are the need for skilled workers,
BSSC's primary focus is on training people for jobs, regardless of
their economic status. The programs cover a variety of training
levels, including entry-level training, employee upgrading, retrain-
ing, and advanced (college- and university-level) programs and run
from 20 weeks to 20 months. Training is provided in a wide va-
riety of new and emerging occupations, such as nuclear medicine
technology, computer-aided design/computer-aided manufactur-
ing, plastics technology, and advanced automation and robotics,
in addition to the more traditional occupations of the machine
trades, licensed practical nursing, and junior accounting.
OCR for page 365
BRYNA SHORE FRASER
365
To date, BSSC has served approximately 1,500 adults in its
training programs. Women tend to predominate in the technician-
level training courses and are currently underrepresented in the
higher-skiDed programs, such as robotics and manufacturing engi-
neering. Several m-level programs have been targeted for women
and minorities and have been successful in moving them into jobs
as technical writers and computerized materials managers (at an-
nual salaries averaging between $15,000 and $25,000~. In addi-
tion, BSSC has contracted with the Women's Technical Institute
of Boston to provide training for women in higher-level electronics
jobs and with Northeastern University to provide programs for
women in engineering and in information systems.
IN SEARCH OF TECHNOLOGICAL
TRAINING EQUITY
Probably the most typical technology training for women
workers today Is several hours of instruction in word process-
ing, provided by the employer to meet its immediate needs. A few
of the innovative technology training programs described in the
preceding sections offer some hope that attention is beginning to
be paid to the broader needs of women for training and retraining
in new office and business technologies. A wide variety of educa-
tional and training programs is available, but very few focus on
training for higher-skilled, higher-level positions in emerging occu-
pations. Nor is training being designed to meet the differing needs
of women at varying stages over the life span. Very few programs
appear to differentiate between the training needs of women and
men. Counseling and career development are included in only a
few programs.
It is possible, perhaps, that this review does not reflect the
bulk of what is currently happening in individual programs, but
it is unlikely that a significant number of programs are operating
in relative obscurity. The limited information available and the
growing concern over women's role in the Office of the Future"
lead us to a discussion of appropriate research and actions to better
meet the technological training and educational needs of women.
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NEW OFFICE AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES
INFORMATION GAPS
There is an imperative need for better and more comorehen-
sive information on education and training for occupations and
jobs affected by the new office and business technologies. Stud-
ies such as the National Commission for Employment Policy's
project, "Technological Change and Employment: The Effects of
Computer-Based Equipment," are beginning to fill some of the
information gaps, but currently there does not exist a single data
base that examines the complete system of training opportunity
in the United States. Within this larger category, specific data are
needed on the structure of (restraining opportunities for women
and men in terms of the providers of (restraining services; the
need for (restraining in terms of changing occupational skill re-
quirements due to technology; and the demand for technology
(restraining by individuals and employers.
Specifically, an inventory of technology training programs
needs to be developed, particularly for service and information
occupations. Such an inventory should provide a history of pro-
grams (goals, objectives, population served, and outcomes) as well
as descriptions of training and services offered and instructional
approaches. Complementing the inventory, additional information
could be obtained through a longitudinal data collection com-
ponent that would emphasize patterns of occupational mobility,
attitudinal and behavioral changes, and patterns of technology
education and training for women and men at different stages of
their life spans. Analysis of such longitudinal data could track
patterns of participation; assess the short-term and long-term na-
ture of barriers to participation for population subgroups; measure
the impacts of different education and training experiences on job
mobility, attitudes, and behaviors; and assess the impacts of in-
stitutional initiatives aimed at increasing the technology training
opportunities for women. This information could be collected on
a regular basis by the federal government, perhaps as part of the
National Center for Education Statistics' survey of participation
in adult education.
A parallel information collection effort would focus on a series
of case studies of a selected number of technology training pro-
grams in service and information occupations designed to train
women for middie-leve] and higher skilled positions in these indus-
tries. These case studies could help identify specific components
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BRYNA SHORE FRASER
367
that best serve the needs of or eliminate the barriers for different
groups of women in obtaining the skills required for the higher tier
of jobs within those occupations affected by new technology.
One approach to conducting these case studies might be to
build on the groundwork laid by the authors of In Search of Excel-
lence (Peters and Waterman, 1984~. The majority of companies
identified as "excellent" were in the service, information, and high-
technology sectors and were judged to be far above the norm in the
amount of time they spent on training activities. Although system-
atic data on training were not collected and no mention was made
of these companies' policies with regard to women specifically,
several of the companies have reputations for being particularly
responsive to the education and training needs of their office work-
ers. It would be worthwhile to examine more closely some of these
companies' policies and programs relating to the introduction of
new technology into the workplace.
Case studies should also be conducted of programs offered by
educational institutions and by other public and private training
providers, particularly those developed by groups with a long-term
interest in the technological preparation of women for occupations,
such as those operated by unions and community service organi-
zations.
Dissemination of the information resulting from the case stud-
ies as well as from the inventory and the longitudinal study should
not be limited to researchers and government policy makers. A
central clearinghouse with direct access to employers and educa-
tors is essential to the implementation of any recommendations
arising from the information collection efforts. One possible site
for such a clearinghouse might be the recently established Center
for Education and Employment, operated by Teachers College,
Columbia University, whose mission is to explore education and
training alternatives that contribute to lifelong learning and re-
training for both personal development and effective instruction.
EDUCATION POLICY
Beyond the collection of more and better-quality information
on training for new technologies, special attention must be paid
to what is (and is not) currently happening at the various levels
of education today, with particular concern focused on long-range
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368
NEW OFFICE AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES
occupational and career impacts relating to women and technol-
ogy.
Early emphasis at the elementary and secondary school lev-
els must be placed on access to math and science skills for girls,
so that more options will be open to women on completion of
secondary schooling for training in higher-level scientific and tech-
nical occupational skills. This is true for all students, not simply
those traditionally college-bound. Such education is increasingly a
prerequisite for those wishing to enter 2-year technology training
programs without first having to participate in remedial courses.
Currently, too many options for advanced technology training
appear to be closed to women due to the lack of an adequate
background in science and related fields.
Vocational education is often criticized for perpetuating sexual
segregation in training offered to students at-the secondary level.
GirIs are still being tracked, for the most part, into clerical and
secretarial courses, while boys are encouraged to enter the more
technical training programs. frequently, critics charge, even the
technical courses lag behind economic realities, teaching skills that
are no longer in demand on equipment that is already obsolete
for jobs that are being eliminated. Clearly, the role of vocational
education in preparing women and men for emerging technological
occupations needs to be reassessed and perhaps restructured.
As far as postsecondary education is concerned, reference was
made earlier to higher education's "prejudice" against the adult
learner. In an age when there is an expanding need for the retrain-
ing of adults and a dwindling number of traditional young stu-
dents, colleges and universities must start rethinking their policies
regarding the education and training required for an increasingly
knowledge-intensive, service-oriented economy. This rethinking
process has already begun at some institutions, as evidenced by
several of the innovative programs referenced earlier in this paper.
It should be noted, however, that most of these programs oper-
ate on the fringes of the sponsoring educational institutions and
are generally not held in the same regard as the more traditional
mainstream offerings.
Community and junior colleges have historically been respon-
sive to local economic conditions and the training needs of area
employers. In 1978, 2-year colleges became the course providers
most frequently cited by adult education participants. Reflecting
their concern for the learning and training needs of adult workers
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BRYNA SHORE FRASER
.
369
In their communities, these schools offer a wide variety of occupa-
tional programs. Information is lacking, however, on the level of
technological skills offered in many of these programs and on how
course completers fare in the job market and in their career devel-
opment. Concern has been expressed by some that the focus on
narrow job-specific training may limit the general employability of
program participants and may ultimately reduce the adaptability
of the work force. The inventory of technology training programs
recommended earlier would contribute much-needed information
on these issues.
Educational institutions at all levels would do well to rethink
their missions in terms of changing demographic, economic, and
technological factors. Training and retraining will become ever
more important as new skills are needed by workers over their
life span. Educators should begin thinking in proactive terms,
anticipating changing educational demands, rather than simply
reacting to crisis situations related to the immediate needs of the
moment.
EMPLOYER REsPoNsIBlLITIEs
Perhaps, as Lewis Perelman suggests in his recent book, it is
time for employers, managers, and workers to "rethink the social
contract surrounding the human capital they employ" (Perelman,
1984:58~. In 1982, for example, companies invested an average of
$3,600 per worker in new facilities and equipment, much of which
was probably linked to the introduction of new technologies. Yet
these same companies invested an average of just $300 per worker
for training. Research from In Search of Excellence indicates that
all of the "excellent" companies treat their people (they are not
thought of simply as workers) as the primary source of productivity
gains—not capital spending or automation. The most pervasive
theme in these companies is "respect for the individual." The
common practice among most companies of letting employees leave
rather than retrain them for new technology reflects little of such
respect.
Unfortunately, existing federal policies tend to favor physical
capital over human capital development (witness many of the tax
provisions), and the current climate is unlikely to favor additional
drains on the treasury. Therefore, traditional recommendations,
such as offering federal tax incentives to encourage employers to
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370
NE W OFFICE AND B USINESS TECHNOLOGIES
establish or enhance in-house technical training, are highly unlikely
to be implemented at this time. How then might employers be
encouraged to allocate more resources to (restraining office workers
to allow them to benefit from opportunities generated by new
technologies?
Perhaps changing demographic and economic factors will force
employers to reverse their underinvestment in training for this
population. As the supply of entry-level workers declines, women
and minority workers, in whom human capital investments have
been least, will comprise a greater share of available workers. This
reality may require that employers invest more heavily in training
to provide themselves with the skilled employees that they need.
Particular attention will have to be paid to the retraining needs of
employed workers whose skills no Ton ger match the needs of their
employers, as well as the basic skill needs of workers entering the
labor market.
A CONTINUING EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
If such demographic and economic conditions do not bring
employers to invest more resources in industry-provided training,
then, once again, the responsibility will revert to the educational
system. As Noyelle, Perelman, and others have suggested re-
cently, we may be moving toward a "truly continuing educational
system one that is more equitable, more flexible, better adapted
to shorter term passages, more ubiquitous, and perhaps less spe-
cialized in orientation than it has traditionally been" (Noyelle,
1984:39~.
For the educational system to be responsive to the needs of
adults, particularly women, preparing for new office and business
technologies, it must look beyond its traditional role of education
of youth toward its emerging role in training adults. The educa-
tional system must be responsive to the diverse needs of a diverse
society, but education and training providers cannot work alone;
they must work collaboratively with business, labor, government,
and other educational organizations.
Such collaborative efforts are important because few technolo-
gies have expanded as rapidly as the computer or penetrated so
many sectors of the economy so quickly. Twelve to 15 million
workers (one out of every eight employed Americans) currently
OCR for page 371
BRYNA SHORE FRASER
371
use computers in their jobs. More than 2 million business com-
puters were sold in 1984 alone, added to the 7.5 million already
in the workplace. This has resulted in a formidable training task,
involving workers currently on the job as well as young and older
would-be workers. It is critical that this process ensure the eq-
uitable availability of training in new technologies for all current
and future members of the work force.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
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