Transforming the gendered landscape of outdoor and environmental education: A profession in search of its own maturity

In 2000, Humberstone emphasised the ‘ignorance’ of the ‘outdoor industry’s’ attention to gendered experiences and the negative impact of masculine hegemony. Since then, articles attending to gendered experiences have increased exponentially, with a focus on sharing women’s experiences of outdoor education. Specifically, research attending to hegemonic masculinity confirms the slow progression, if at all, we are making as a profession. Through content analysis of existing research and a small-scale narrative inquiry of experiences of adversity in Outdoor and Environmental Education, this paper emphasises the importance of responding to gendered experiences of adversity as transformational learning and recognising the role of personal responsibility and accountability through the development of skills, strategies, and passion. We offer practical recommendations for all genders to reconsider practices for personal and institutional change.