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    Women and training : a critical analysis : a thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1998) Battleday, Suzanne
    From the point of view of its implications for women, this thesis critically investigates the official discourse of training in New Zealand in the late 1980s and 1990s, and explores its effects within the Polytechnic sector. The more theoretical side of the project involves discussing the changing meanings of 'training' and its entangled relationship with 'education'. I then conduct a thorough examination of the key statement of the new training discourse - Education for the Twenty-first Century - and give a twofold account of its structure and meaning. One part of this discourse is oriented towards social pluralism and equity, but this strand is undercut by the dominant 'human capital' perspective which ultimately holds little prospect for real advance in women's training and labour market situation. The more empirical dimension of the thesis involves a quantitative analysis of enrolment statistics, a discourse analysis of Polytechnic reports, and a questionnaire/interview schedule with senior staff within one Polytechnic. Overall, there is little evidence that government strategy and ideology are contested within Polytechnics, and whilst women's participation rates may be buoyant, the content of their training courses and the consequent image of what sort of life women make for themselves could be seen as surprisingly traditional. At all levels of the work, I try to highlight important indications of progress or contradiction, where they exist. But on the whole, the sobering thought emerging from the thesis is that there is still a long way to go for a properly non-sexist training agenda.
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    Exceptional pioneers : women in trades, tertiary education, and collaborative research : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Adult Education) at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2002) Summers, Jesse; Gray, Maureen
    This thesis explores women's experience in trades education in Aotearoa/New Zealand polytechnics in the late 1990s. It highlights issues, which are still affecting women in spite of discourses of equal opportunity. While looking at reasons for attrition, it also celebrates the courage and determination of women pioneers in trades and tertiary education. Three case studies chosen from 23 research participants emphasise the issues for women in the trades and are used to develop themes for analysis. Interviews were also carried out with staff working in trades education. Current literature and three key advisors assisted in creating a wider perspective of the issues. The two researchers are central to the research process. A collaborative and feminist methodology was used to produce the thesis in a safe, productive and trusting environment, both for the researchers and the participants. The experience of women in the trades provides a link to compare women's experience in trades education to the experience of women educators in male-dominated educational organisations. The process of collaboration is explored for its useful to this post-graduate research. The incorporation of trades culture into tertiary education culture produced some conflicts in philosophies of education, highlighting inconsistencies in equitable practice. Women's experiences in the trades do not appear to have changed significantly in the last 20 years and centre around issues of gender, sexuality, power and culture. Their experiences represent evidence of women in tertiary education generally and the inequities that still exist. The future for women in educational organisations is dependent upon constructive achievement in the re-culturing of tertiary educational organisations to make equitable practice part of the fabric of those organisations.