Computer Chips and Paper Clips Technology and Women's Employment, Volume II: Case Studies and Policy Perspectives (1987) / Chapter Skim
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New Office and Business Technolgies: The Structure of Education and (Re)Training Opportunities
New Office and Business Technolgies: The Structure of Education and (Re)Training Opportunities
Pages 343-372
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From page 343... ...
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 commercial 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~.
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From page 344... ...
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 longterm solution (ITT Educational Services, 1984~.
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From page 345... ...
Only 30 percent had actually received pay raises as a result of acquiring word-processing skills, and while 75 percent said that the equipment freed them from typing chores and allowed them more time for work involving decision making, when asked what new responsibilities 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.
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From page 346... ...
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.
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From page 347... ...
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 almost 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 responsibilities.
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From page 348... ...
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 program is provided by the Intel Corporation, a manufacturer of integrated circuits, which recently installed 65 personal computers in its microprocessor division over a 6-month period (Johnson, 1985~.
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From page 349... ...
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 purchased 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.
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From page 350... ...
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.
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From page 351... ...
in such areas as automation, bank teller, computer programming, data processing, electronic office-machine technology, keypunch operator, retail technical sales, secretarial, telecommunications, 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.
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From page 352... ...
Unlike most programs, the Polaroid Corporation's Tuition Assistance Plan has a very high rate of participation, even among hourly employees. Polaroid has developed a systematic and comprehensive series of courses and programs for its employees which includes internal education and skills training programs; technology-based programs and seminars for technical and nontechnical personnel; and career counseling workshops to help employees determine career goals and methods for achieving them.
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From page 353... ...
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~.
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From page 354... ...
While it is likely that, for the foreseeable future, employers will continue to provide the majority of training in a variety of new technologies, educational institutions are increasingly offering training in a variety of new technologies as part of their educational programs. NONCOLLEGIATE POSTSECONDARY SCHOOLS A growing number of people are turning to noncollegiate postsecondary schools (often called proprietary or trade and technical schools)
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From page 355... ...
Large national corporations are active in the field, too. ITT Educational Services, Inc., is the leading example, operating a nationwide network of 28 proprietary schools offering technical and business programs and 19 career training centers.
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From page 356... ...
It is likely that this responsiveness on the part of community colleges accounts for the finding that a higher percentage of blue-collar and service workers enrolled in adult education were in 2-year colleges than in any other type of institution (National Center for Education Statistics, 1979~. Community and junior colleges also work effectively with local business and industry.
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From page 357... ...
Among the courses included are Introduction to Algebra, Economics, General Psychology, Electronics I, Speech, Stress Management, Digital and Logic Circuits, and Solid State Devices. Finally, all participants take part in on-thejob training cooperative work experience when they actually work at technician jobs in the plant.
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From page 358... ...
Among the modifications being made are scheduling classes at night and on weekends; offering classes at diverse locations, such as libraries, employment sites, and union halls; using the media to transmit courses, lectures, and reading materials; easing admission requirements and formal entry qualifications for certain courses of study, including the granting of credit for life experience; and encouraging greater use of independent study. An unusual example of a nontraditional program in technical training is the Grass Roots Computer Literacy for Rural Adults Project operated by the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension (with funding from the U.S.
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From page 359... ...
By computer literacy, the project means the ability to understand simple computers and to be able to use mini- and microcomputers in work or home settings. The second goal is to develop a delivery system that is appropriate for teaching in rural communities.
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From page 360... ...
PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEMS Local school systems, though mainly focused on educating youth, have long offered adult education courses. With projected stabilization and, in some cases, decline in enrollments, it is likely
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From page 361... ...
It is very likely, therefore, that computer training courses in a variety of fields will be increasingly available to community members through adult education programs. One example of such a program is the "Computers for the Medical Assistant" course offered by the Fairfax County (Virginia)
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From page 362... ...
. The CETA program, which focused mainly on disadvantaged workers, relied increasingly during its life span on public sector employment as its chief mechanism, with training accounting for only one-quarter of program expenditures by the end of the 1970s.
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From page 363... ...
These centers are run by local community-based organizations in partnership with the IBM Corporation, with additional funding from the Job Training Partnership Act. Training in word processing, computer operation, and computer programming is provided to some 3,000 individuals annually, most of whom are women in their late twenties and thirties, although ages range from 18 to 55.
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From page 364... ...
A state-funded cooperative effort, the Bay State Skills Corporation (BSSC) was created by the Massachusetts state legislature in 1981 to act as a catalyst in forming partnerships between businesses and educational institutions to train workers in skills needed by growing industries in the state.
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From page 365... ...
IN SEARCH OF TECHNOLOGICAL TRAINING EQUITY Probably the most typical technology training for women workers today Is several hours of instruction in word processing, 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.
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From page 366... ...
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 programs in service and information occupations designed to train women for middie-leve]
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From page 367... ...
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 organizations.
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From page 368... ...
It should be noted, however, that most of these programs operate 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 responsive to local economic conditions and the training needs of area employers.
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From page 369... ...
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.
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From page 370... ...
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 educational 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.
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From page 371... ...
Charner, I., and B.S. Fraser 1984 Different Strokes for Different Folks: Access and Barriers to Adult Education and Ikainir~g.
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From page 372... ...
Paper presented at American Federation of Information Processing Societies, Office Automation Conference, Atlanta, Ga. Johnson, S
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