Literacy training aims to develop the reading, writing, and numeracy skills needed to participate fully in society. In the labour market, these skills as well as digital skills can enable individuals to perform their tasks better, progress in employment, or gain access to a wider variety of jobs (e.g., with better working conditions or more in line with their aspirations). Several studies also link these skills to workers’ ability to learn new skills related to their tasks or to the digital transition.
Savoie and Gaudet are more specifically interested in the impact of literacy training on less educated women in rural New Brunswick. The authors explore how the relationship to work of women who have completed a literacy program has changed. Their research takes a feminist approach that considers ways in which social dynamics determine how women perceive themselves in society.
The authors remind us that social and cultural constructions of gender have a major impact on the way women enter the workforce. Models and behaviours are imposed on children before and throughout their school years that cause them to internalize gender-specific norms and patterns. These gender distinctions have repercussions on women’s career development and on the job market. For example, many women are inclined to go into care-related jobs because they have internalized that this type of profession is “intrinsic” to “feminine nature.”
Using a life-story approach, Savoie and Gaudet interviewed 12 women about their life paths and literacy experiences. Aged between 21 and 75, these women had completed literacy training over a year prior in an Acadian region of New Brunswick. The analysis of the 12 life stories was presented in two parts: the women’s relationship to employment before and after training.
Before the training, almost all the women were employed in jobs traditionally held by women. These jobs required skills they had acquired in the domestic sphere, which is why they were able to access them. Women moved between care work, factory work, and customer service – often under precarious conditions.
The women in the study chose literacy training as a means of transforming their lives and improving their material conditions. After training, most of them said they felt more autonomous, independent, and confident about finding a job that would satisfy them. However, the authors note that the type of work performed before and after the training did not really change. For example, one participant said she did not want to leave her job (as a domestic worker in a private home), stressing that she felt valued and appreciated in this role. The participants therefore seem to orientate their social and work role behaviours according to what they have learned during their socially gendered life course. As a result, literacy training did not really change the type of jobs held by the participants. Nevertheless, the development of literacy skills enabled the women to discover more of themselves, develop further, and step outside their family environment. According to the researchers, literacy remains a good way of enhancing autonomy and equipping oneself with concrete means of navigating an ever-changing job market. CDPs can also contribute by referring clients with little or no formal education to literacy resources and encouraging them throughout their training.
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