The Gendered Hidden Curriculum of Adventure Education

Abstract

Background: Critical examination by adventure educators in North American colleges and universities reveals that students receive messages about the nature of adventure education through both the intentional and hidden curriculum. Purpose: The study was designed to discover adventure education’s hidden curriculum and its potential effect on women in adventure education. Methodology/Approach: The phenomenon of the hidden curriculum was examined using a modified Delphi method. Three rounds of questionnaires solicited knowledge from a panel of experts (21 females and 18 males), who had tenure of at least 15 years in the adventure education field, to obtain a reliable semi-consensus of opinion. Findings/Conclusions: Gender-based hidden curriculum messages were found, including the prioritizing of values and traits perceived to be predominantly male, linguistic sexism, assumptions about outdoor identity, outdoor career messages, gender insensitive facilitation and teaching, and the centering of White men in the field’s history. Implications: The proposed strategies to consciously address sexism and gender role conditioning in the adventure education’s hidden curriculum may benefit women and gender-nonconforming participants and leaders.