PARTICIPANTS AT THE GENDER MAINSTREAMING MEETING IN LONDON
Creating greater awareness of gender issues for the public service through open and distance learning (ODL) was the focus of a two-day meeting in London in July 2008 organised by COL and the Commonwealth Secretariat's Gender and Governance sections. The meeting brought together representatives from government, management development institutions and distance learning universities from Ghana, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Uganda, the U.K. and Zambia.
Participants drafted an action plan to implement ODL for gender mainstreaming in up to four pilot African countries. COL will be involved in guiding the development of ODL materials for gender mainstreaming at all levels of government. These materials will be work-based so that learners can immediately apply new knowledge and skills to their work context.
Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women and men for any planned action. It involves making the concerns and experiences of both women and men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally.
The challenges facing women in open and distance learning (ODL), was the focus of the introductory session on gender at the Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in London in July 2008. Organised by COL Vice President Professor Asha Kanwar and chaired by COL President Sir John Daniel, "Women, gender and distance education: Where have all the flowers gone?" featured three presentations by leaders in the field of gender and ODL.
In her presentation, "A personal perspective on women in open and distance learning", Ms. Janet Jenkins proposed that there is decreasing attention paid to the specific needs of female learners in ODL. Since the turn of the century, there has apparently been a tapering off of initiatives with a specific gender perspective, she said.
Ms. Jenkins reminded delegates that the bedrock of ODL is its capacity to offer wider access to learning, particularly for those otherwise unable to participate, including women.
In "Reflections on Gender Issues in Open and Distance Learning", Dr. Christine von Pruemmer of FernUniversität in Germany looked at the impact of technology on ODL and how to promote gender equity in distance education. Dr. von Pruemmer challenged the belief that gender differences have all but disappeared with regard to the use of information and communication technology (ICT), pointing to research that shows women often have less access to the technologies, less control over the ICT in their homes and places of work, and less confidence and competency in using the technology.
She concluded with a call to action: "In order to ensure that the virtual campus will not be a place without women or a place in which women are passive participants who 'consume' the education they cannot get any other way, women themselves must be prepared to embrace the new world of ICT, to take a critical look at the dangers but also at the advantages inherent in virtual teaching and learning processes, and to be involved in shaping their own new learning environments".
Dr. Rekha Sharma Sen, in a paper developed jointly with Dr. Pema Samdup, looked at the impact of gender on learning through distance mode by conducting a study of learners and counsellors in five distance education programmes at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). While it is commonly believed that distance education is especially suited to women who want to pursue education while raising a family because of its twin features of flexibility in learning schedules as well as little or no requirement for attendance, this study explored whether these features of the system always work to the advantage of women.
The findings of their study include: - Different approaches to study and learning styles are not necessarily related to gender,
- The amount of learner support needed is not determined by gender, and
- Gender perspectives in course materials do not percolate to the learner.
Some of the key recommendations that emerged in this session include: - Increase access for women to all components of learning,
- Ensure we do not create new barriers to access for women through use of technology, and
- Provide adequate emotional and academic support to ODL learners.
The papers are available along with all papers presented at PCF5 at www.WikiEducator.org/pcf5. COL's new Gender micro-site provides a comprehensive platform to access print and electronic resources on gender and open and distance learning (ODL) with a special emphasis on information and communication technology (ICT). The main purpose of this website is to promote gender equality and to increase awareness, knowledge and skills specifically related to gender and ODL/ICT.
The micro-site is organised into three sections: - Online resources,
- Other resources (journals, bibliographies, distance education associations), and
- Mainstreaming gender: examples of policies and action plans.
While it is impossible to cover all resources in this rapidly changing area, the micro-site helps visitors stay abreast of the latest ideas and initiatives by providing links to the websites of important players in gender and ODL/ICT.
www.col.org/gender