DOCUMENT RESUME , ED 227 246 : CE 035 2564 . AUTHOR Meier, Gretl S. TITLE Winker Learning end Worktime Flexibility. A Policy Discussion Paper. INSTITUTION Upjohn (W.g.) Inst. for Employment Research, Kalamazoo, Mich. ts. REPORT NO ISBN-0-88099-407-4 PUB DATE 83 . ... NOTE 71p. f AVAILABLE FROMW.E. Upjohn Institute for imployment Research, 300 S*. Westnedge.Avenue, talamazoo, MI 49007 ($4.95; . quantity discounts available): *PUB TYpE Reports Research/Technical (143) . , EDRS PRICE- MF01 Plus-Postage. OC Notgivailable fvm EDRS. DESCRIPTORS 'Adult Education; *Educational Opportunitiesv Educational Policy; EmployMerat Patterns; *Employment Practices; Feasibility.Studies; *Females; *Flexible Wor)king Hoursrindividual Needs; *Job Training; Labor. Fdfce; *Labor Force Development; Part Time Employment; Personnel Nedds; Research pesign; Research Needs; Training,Allowances; Tuition Grants Y ABSTRACI 1 A.study explored t e feasitiffiraesearCh on the imid-act of flexible work patterns on'the educational and training opportunities available to women in low-status jobs. Intended to 6rovide a basis for a more informed dfscussion of policy questions pertaining to flbxible worktime, the study involved a review of, related literature, a SerieS of informal interviews,-and the collection of preliVinary data at selected worksites during-1981.:- These sources of date confirm the fact that concern over deClining 4 'pr6auctivity, together with demographicshifts and workers' changing values, have made it more important than ever todevelop more effective opportunities for education and traininq and to. expand the use'of flexible wqrk patterns. During the study, an examination wai made of recent attempts at adjusting working hours for educat n and training such as the use of part time, combined part time anduifion aid, 40-hour flexible'schedules, and informal exibility. This examination revealed potitive, albeit tentativ , connections between flexible hours and employer7provided.learnin'3.-rograms. However; it also suggests-that tilts linkage if4,1,pffect women in low-status jobs on a significant scale only if other conditions also prevail. Therefore, more comprehensive research on the impact of flexibility , is needed. (MN) -, . r 4 * Reproductionstsupplied bycEDRS are the best-that can be made * * . * f rom --the-origi-na-1 -documen-t-r--. Ai *****************************************************************At**** 1. 4r. I L Worker Learning, and Worktime Flexibility. -7 Gretli S. Meier. A Policy Discussion Paper U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION jiE UCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION 'PERMISSION TO REPHODUCE THIS CENTER IERIC) MATERIAL IN MICROFICHE' ONLY This document has boon reproduced as HAS BEEN GRANTED BY: received from the person or 'organ?. ation originating it , Minor chappes have been made to improve reproduction quality. :ft Kee Cc. *, Points of view or optmons stated in this docu ment do not necessanly represent official NIE TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES pbeition or policy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." 2 Obrary Of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data . Meier, Gretl S. Worker learning and Ark-time flexibility. Includes bibliogeaphical referenCes. 1. Hours of AiaborUnited States. .WornepEmploy, rnentUniteici BtateS.3. 'Occupational training for women Unitdd-Statel.4. Emploees, Training ofUnited 'States.I. Title. .H66066.U5051983' 331.4'2592'0973 "83-1348 ISBN, 0-88099-007-4 (pbk.) I , Copyright 1983 by the W. E. UPJOHN INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT RESEARCH 30Q South Westneage Aver Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007 THE INSTITUTE, a nonprofii research organization, was established on July 1, 1945. It is an activity of the.W. E. Uppphri Unemployment Trustee Corporation, which wa41 formed in 1932 to administer a.fundet aside by the late Dr. W. E. Upjohn for the purpose of carrying on "research into the,cauges and effects of unemployment, and mesures forthe illeviation of, unemployment." ,- 4 The Author Gretl.S. Meier is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College Political Science), Radcliffe College of Harvard Ulkiversity (M.K., American Historyt and did further graduate work in International Relations at L'institute` crEtudes Politiques of the University o) Paris. She haspeen co-dirtector of New Ways to Work, a Sari Francisco-Palo Alta employment resvrce agen- cy, a research assistant at The Brookings Institution, a staff membet of the firtt Mayor's Commission on. Puerto Rican Affairs in New York City, and a consul- tant to the Human Relations Office of the New Haven 'Unifiedchool District in Union City, California. Ms. Meier is the .alithor of Job Sharing: A dew Paf, tern for Quality of Work and Life and Job Sharing in the Schools, as Well as numerous general articles on :jobs sharing, .and a contributor to New Work Patterns ,by Stanley D. Nollen. She co-authored the final report 'of the CETA-sijonsored Jbb Sharing Projecl of New .Ways to Work, and testified in. 1976 Oefore the U.S. Senat Subcommittee on Employment, Poverty, and Migratory Labor on the need foe alternative work i5at- terns. She'has also been concerned with European ex- ptriences with work flexibility and their relevance to alternative work patterns in the U.S. In 1978,tmder a grant from the German MarshallRind, she represented New Ways to Work At meetings with Euro- pean colleagues to explore these issues. 1. Prelate Thie study explores feasjbility of. research on how flexible work patte ns might extend education and, training opportrities. Although its findings are relevantto, a wider employee population,this preliminary inquiry has concentrated on thecombined impact of flexible Worktime and training policies. on. women in row status jobs1-_ The underlying problem is that, although %/Omen are eritering and remaining in the labor force in the U.S. at an unprecedented rate, 80 percent are still confineOr the low skilled jobs. iniclerical, sales, operative, craft and service o.ccupations.- Many, without acpess- to hifgher eduoation before entering employment,, are still'unable to take advantage of emptoyer-sponsored I. learning activities. In contrast to managers and pro- fessionals whp participate tn education and training prograths in disproportionately high numbers, these workeos lare.often biEred by-the more rigid schedultng a of their...work hours. 4 [5artial solution to 'the' inequity in access to learn: ing opportunities may lift in the.applicability of flexible work patterns: flextime, 4-le compressed workweek, permanent part time, and job sharing.. Might these women utilize new scheduling to better balance work and their primary home responsibilities and, at the,' same time, to take greater advantage of education and ttainirig in order to reneAk themselves and tO find better jobs and new occupations? The findings of tpis report'are based on' a rskiew related literature and, more specifically, sn a series of informal4 interviews and preliminaridata)collected at V tr; v , , selected mirk sites during 1981.ito ider-hily.the poten- tial gains of- the, relationship between flexible woric., patterns and learning opportunities as well 'as the .1/ problems that must be overcome, the sampie-inpluded companies with 6thad Participation in traihthg and .. education programs as well as firms offel'ing new wodc scriedulbs. "Nese diseussions hav ( revealed the . nature and range, of additional data tt would be re- quired for cnore-substantiv'e study. Equally importantr 'they have made a start at raising management in- terest in linking two areas ofopersonnel policy whichv; . until now, have bed° quite/separate.. ., . e Educaion,' training a6d retrainingreluirerhents , pose an alarMing national Problemnot only because , ofthecurrent high levelsofrectssion-induced unemployment, bq aleo for' reasons of: structural 1" change.Seructfiraltransformation's "in'the economyas olsilobs obsolesce and new jobs occur in the technical and service sectors,--reqüire a rept- % terning of labor force skills. Moreover, the changing -nSture of job supply and dimipished internal mobility -,, willharshly affect women ' aid other minorities, es.pecially,ifeilforc.emehtofaffirmativeaptiqn r guidelines weakens. it Employersponsored le rning, often termed "the .. shadow systqmof education," its extent and equity of access, win be subjected to greaterf)ressukes as the --.. public sect9uole diminishes. Reduceg federal expen- dittires for training, the hew federa0m, ,and \tern: meet oyertures for an expanded privatO sector ro 'lli,)k strain employer-epopsored schemes741ready in place. And although their long-range implications cannot yet 0 be. fully. analyzed, the cuts in government aid to educa- tion will limit the development of the human capitalTe- vi 6 quired fot industry and business needs in the. not-too-i distant future. Deepite its focus on ernployer-sponSoTed activities, this, paper presumet that occupational orientation arxi re-orientation ere but one pah avorker learning. Theother,reflectingindividualhuman ' values; depends on a more broadly based content that aims to Julfill personal potintial, of f and on the job. The fusion of practical and theoretical knowledge has becdme even more-critical as all Americans have been forced to adjust to the often overwhelming pade of soc,ial and political as well as economic change. Such learning can make ".. a determinative differenCe between a reprieve of opportunity and 'a'lifetime sentence to, frustration, and ollsolemence." Learning is addictive. The line between education ,anid training may be blurred when the latter moves beyond specific tasks to