7th August 2000

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Northern Ireland’s universities must reach out and give a helping hand to ensure all the Province’s people fulfil their potential.

That was the message delivered by Professor Pauline Murphy, Director of the University of Ulster’s Women’s Opportunities Unit, speaking at the Unit’s graduation ceremony in Jordanstown.

Over 60 women from all over Northern Ireland were receiving academic honours at the ceremony, attended by family and friends.

Many of the Women’s Opportunities Unit courses are aimed at women who have bee unable to pursue their education through the traditional routes - women like Karen Sweeney, a mother of two teenage children, who completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Professional and Management Development , and has been offered a post at the training For Women Network: like Ann Millar, mother of two grown up children, who overcame health difficulties to complete her Certificate in IT Studies and Professional Development, and is now about to begin a degree in Youth and Community Work at UU; and Karen O’Grady, a single parent, who discovered an untapped talent for computing, and overcame her fear of public speaking to achieve a Diploma in Telematics and Management Studies.

Of the 27 students at Diploma and Certificate level, 21 are to continue their studies at degree or HND courses at the UU and QUB.with the remainder moving into full-time employment

“We must use education and training as instruments to find solution which will strengthen social cohesion and address the socio-economic factors which inhibit many of our people from fulfilling their potential in life, “ said Professor Murphy.

The model of personal, professional and political development for women, which we have developed her at the University of Ulster, combines many modules from different disciplines – and has proved a great success in developing untapped talent, she added.

“This kind of learning can make a tremendous impact – on the lives of the women who have completed our courses, on their communities, and on Northern ireland as a whole.”

And she revealed that the Unit’s Certificate in IT Studies and Professional Development is has now been franchised out to seven colleges of Further Education throughout N Ireland. And there are plans to roll this programme out both cross border and internationally .

“My message is : this is yet another example of what women can do when the opportunities are made available to them . My message to universities and FE colleges is - you must play a greater tole in reaching out to women and other socially excluded groups, because we need to reach and develop all the talent that exists in our society - and many people in Northenr Ireland are under-utilising their talents.”

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk