Abstract
This study examined the effectiveness of the Empowering Women Workshop Series program on higher education employees in Northern California. The workshop series focused on its effects on females in the areas of self-confidence building, value and goal setting, assertiveness, leadership, networking skills and integration of work/life balance skills to improve motivation and self-reliance in work and personal life. The four eight-hour day workshops were facilitated over a three month period of time to one employee group at the community college level and one employee group at the university level. Thirty-one higher education employees participated in the study in the spring of 2014. Data sources for the study included a pre and post survey consisting of Likert scale questionnaire. The post survey also included quantitative data in the form of three open ended questions on the post survey. Study results show significant improvement between the pre and post survey result in all areas studied. Most notable results indicate that 90% of participants feel they have increased their effectiveness at work, 90% of participants feel more optimistic and positive and 94% of participants have improved their communication skills as a result of participation in the workshop series. These findings imply that the Empowering Women Workshop Series was beneficial to participants and further workshops are necessary to evaluate the diverse populations among women in California.