Adult education for women is changing

EducationDaily

Written by:

Theresa Collignon, Macquarie Community College CEO

Earlier this year, data showed women outnumbered men at all but two Australian universities. It isn’t just bachelor’s degrees that tell this story: the number of women graduating from vocational education and training (VET) programs is skyrocketing, too.

Look into the classrooms of community colleges around the country and you’ll find women – often mature-aged, or new to Australia – are signing up for courses in increasingly significant numbers. These women are proactively looking at gaining skills that give them more opportunities to enter and excel in the workforce.

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You might be thinking, “That’s great Theresa. I love to see more women getting an education. Why should I care?”

We should all care because this hasn’t always been the case.

For students graduating from high school today and looking into what’s next, further education isn’t an afterthought – it’s the primary thought. Whether it be through university, a trades apprenticeship, a community education provider or anything in between, there is an expectation that further knowledge is now non-negotiable. 

This isn’t always the case for those who have had different goals or face more pressing priorities – because they grew up in lower socioeconomic settings, have caring responsibilities or language barriers. This can mean having a different mindset about the ability or benefits of accessing further education and training pathways. 

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What you need to know is the shift is happening – and it’s happening now. 

What’s different? Education is different, the workplace is becoming different and, hopefully, so is society. Here are the things we’re doing to change inclusive community-based education and the reason WHY we’ve seen a 40 per cent increase in the number of women enrolled in our courses in the past 3 years. 

  1. We are removing barriers to participation

We make it our goal to create welcoming and respectful environments where people can simply learn. 

One example of this is the way we’ve delivered a Certificate III in Individual Support in collaboration with Canterbury City Community Centres for a small group of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse women. They are able to access quality training in their neighbourhood without having to travel, sharing the learning journey and make new friends with other students in their community. 

By encouraging life-long learning and having a strong cohort of mature-aged students we remove some of the stigma that can be associated with getting an education at a later age. 

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  1. Diversity of experience is celebrated

Organisations around the world are placing greater value on diversity, equity and inclusion programs – whether that be through workplace initiatives or their hiring processes. Employers understand that employees with diverse backgrounds and lived experience can give them a leg up when it comes to serving diverse clients, out-of-the-box thinking or different approaches to business challenges. 

This is only good news for our students, especially those who often fear they’re behind their peers or won’t be respected for their different job histories. We make sure our students know that the workforce is continuing to evolve and change and that their diversity of experience leads to diversity of thought – a sought-after asset in the modern workforce. 

  1. The fundamentals are part of the course work 

Too often we hear about individuals who have completed a program of study and have gone out into the workforce but lack some fundamental skills like composing or sending emails, reading and following instructions 

Something that we embed into each course are the fundamentals around digital literacy and English language support. We don’t want students just to be able to complete a job. We want them to have the skills to live and thrive in their community and their workplaces. 

  1. Lived experience is valued 

Women with experience in running a home, looking after their children and ageing family members already have a deep understanding of care. When completing a relevant certificate or diploma especially for a caring career, that experience lends itself to the study and is celebrated.

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This is a radical difference from other settings where one might see caring for family as a weakness or shortfall as compared to more formal work. 

  1. Flexibility is non-negotiable 

We provide a supportive and flexible environment that caters to the specific needs of migrant and mature-aged women, allowing them to pursue qualifications at their own pace and on their own terms, like classes during school hours so that their time with family and other responsibilities don’t suffer. 

The availability of vocational education and training (VET) programs, particularly those offered by community colleges and not-for-profit adult educators, has been instrumental in facilitating this shift.

What’s different in the past few years is how many women are responding to their individual desire to learn to a high level, and the support of learning options that offer practical, meaningful flexibility, including classes online.

By equipping more women with formal qualifications, Australia is investing in social cohesion: role-modeling diverse ways of being and thinking and championing the right of those often underserved to be independent, valued, and thrive.

Theresa Collignon, CEO Maquarie Community College

About Theresa Collignon

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Theresa Collignon has more than 30 years of local and international experience in the not-for-profit education sector. She has held various senior roles with Macquarie Community College, Gateway Community High School, TAFE Directors Australia, AFS student exchange (Australia and USA), The Smith Family, The Securities Institute (now FinSIA) and the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM). Collignon is a passionate advocate for the power of learning and connection as an enabler of brighter futures and stronger communities, especially for those that face disadvantage or barriers to participation.

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