ODDE and Gender

Abstract

Gender and the concern with gender issues is important for open and distance education (ODE) which is associated with the provision of educational opportunities for minority groups. In countries and cultures the world over, including Western industrialized societies, girls and women are educationally disadvantaged compared to their male counterparts. This educational discrimination is especially prevalent in social minorities. Since 1982, with the start of the Women’s International Network WIN within the International Council for Open and Distance Education ICDE, women working in ODE have brought a feminist and gender perspective to their own situation and to that of women distance students. A manifestation of this was the proliferation of women’s/gender studies into ODE curricula. With the goal of equal access and conditions for women to succeed, women working in ODE researched and analyzed the cultural and social factors underlying the inequalities and identified ways for redressing gender imbalances. The paper discusses four areas of inequality and points out ways for the empowerment of women: (1) gender roles and the social division of labor, (2) learning environments, (3) access equity, and (4) course content and choice of subject. A focus on gendered access and use of technology highlights factors affecting women’s participation in e-learning and the way in which they use electronic communication for overcoming isolation, for networking, and for empowerment.