The invisibility cloak: Women's contributions to outdoor and environmental education

ABSTRACT

Women leaders in outdoor environmental education (OEE) have begun to discuss the invisibility cloak that seems to envelope us. Women comprise approximately half the OEE professionals; however, women still face gender bias resulting in challenges of recognition and access to the upper echelons of the profession. Data show that implicit prejudice and limitations, arising from systematic hegemony and the gender binary, create an atmosphere that generally silences or ignores women's contributions and voices in media and history. As a collective group, our profession needs to actively challenge and positively change the forms of knowledge and recognition that render women invisible. Authors suggest that feminism and alternative discourses that have historically been marginalized or less visible can be used to replace and challenge current dominant narratives.

KEYWORDS:

• environmental education
• equity
• feminist
• gender
• gender binary
• leadership
• outdoor education
• women

Note

Acknowledgment

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 7th International Outdoor Education Research Conference, Nova Scotia, 2016, which has been published in Research in Outdoor Education, 15, 47–71.

Notes

1. Agender is without gender, rejecting the notion of gender entirely, although for some, agender equates with gender neutral which retains the binary (for developing dialogue see O'Hara, 2017).