Messages about women through representation in adventure education texts and journals

Abstract

The authors explore women's representation in adventure education (AE) literature positing the question: What messages about women are manifest in the scholarly literature and during the publishing process in AE? Data were gathered using a feminist content analysis of five commonly used texts and through citation indices created for the Journal of Experiential Education and the Australian Journal of Outdoor Education. Citation frequency was compared between women and men authors. In the journals, women comprise about 25% of published authorships. Texts continue to use masculine normative language and stereotypical gender roles in examples, reinforcing a hidden curriculum. Women were underrepresented as authors and adventurers and in technical and nontechnical photos, whilst being the predominant authors of social justice writings.