Thirty years on, and has the gendered landscape changed in outdoor learning?

Abstract

The author stumbled on the field of wilderness studies and outdoor education 35 years ago, purely by default and serendipity. Buoyed by a passion for outdoor pursuits coupled with a yearning for alternative teaching methods, this chapter traces the asymmetrical gendered landscape encountered during her career. Outdoor learning offered a fertile educational platform for transformational personal growth for her adolescent students in terms of augmenting positive behaviour change. This potent vehicle eclipsed any of her traditional teaching modalities. Sadly, however, a hegemonic, male domination existed. Feminist perspectives provide a through line whilst also exploring the values that underpin her practice. The author concludes by calling for a long overdue conversation with the profession to commit to sustainable structural and cultural reform to advance gender equality.