Q: Does LERN have any information on best practices in programming and marketing for services for women returning to the workforce?
A: You actually need to look at your own programs, customers and community first to identify where you should start. Here are some questions to ask:
Why are you looking at focusing on this particular demographic for continuing ed? Do you already have a relationship with this demographic? What highly successful continuing professional education programs do you already have that are of interest to women?
These questions are important because the best way to develop new programming is by offering an already successful topic to a new audience or offering a new topic to an audience with whom you already have a relationship. If you already have tapped into that demographic then you should be able to use your registration data to determine which marketing strategies you’ve already employed that worked to encourage them to register.
Another question to consider: what career areas are anticipated to grow in your region? This is information your regional economic development organization or state department of labor should have. If you give me that information, then I can narrow down some of the topics others have had success with and provide those ideas to you. (Here’s an example why that’s important. Marina Technology is a highly successful program for one community college that I know of; however, it’s near a huge resort area with thousands of boats. It’s not a program that would be successful outside of that type of environment.)
Once you respond to the questions I posed above, I’ll be happy to assist you more.