Australia's Job Training Myth
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Abstract
What happens when a group of informally employed, home-based textiles workers are given the chance to receive high quality training that will improve their employability and work conditions? In the case of one group of Australian women, not much.
Dominant media discourse in this country says that skills and literacy training will lead to jobs, but it seems that amongst our most disadvantaged, unsupported and mostly female workers, this does not ring true.
Helena Spyrou is an educator and advocate at the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union (TCFU). At ALA’s recent national conference, she was part of a panel discussion that looked at why education and training is not necessarily leading to positive employment outcomes for women in Australia.
The story of this research project with these highly skilled women challenged the dominant discourse in both Federal and State training policies, which still argues that skills and English literacy development will lead to gaining jobs in the labour market. “These women did not get jobs, despite their training, because employers would have to pay them award wages and it is cheaper to pay women who work from home,” explains Helena. “Sadly, this study exemplified the way the rhetoric of the skills agenda and literacy training is thwarting the aspirations of women like these.”
Spyrou believes that the issues affecting women homeworkers are systemic in globalized capitalism
Elaine Butler, Executive Officer of WAVE (Women in Adult and Vocational Education), also believes that there are a number of mantras and myths around women’s and girl’s education in the Australian media. “We’re fed the story that there is no issue around gender in Australia,” Elaine says, “but it is widely recognized that Australia has one of the most gender-segregated labour forces in the OECD countries, both by industry and by level of appointment.”
“Women’s enrolment is engineering is currently at 15%, with even lower participation rates for construction management. Similar gendered enrolment trends are replicated in trades areas,” explains Elaine. “There is a dominance of women in low productivity sectors of the economy, particularly health care and training, a bias to clerical roles and a bias to working short hours.”
Elaine believes that skills shortages is the dominant media message and Australia has a reputation for being a ‘fair-go’ society, clouding the evidence that there are still gender-based inequalities embedded in education enrolment patterns and labour patterns in Australia. “There has been no national policy that looks at women and girls education and training since 1996.” It is Elaine’s view that over the past fifteen years, Access and Equity policy has been lost to social inclusion. “Social inclusion in VET does not ‘do’ gender equality,” she says.
Read more: https://ala.asn.au/quest-online/issue4-2011/article04.php?nav=article04
Comments
Why should women's "bias to working short hours" or working at home be seen as evidence of disadvantage? As a mother, the option to work short hours is a great benefit to me, not something I complain about. Likewise doing some of my work at home gives me the opportunity to more effectively balance work and caring responsibilities, as well as getting some research done.
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