| Abstract: | This article reports on a nationwide survey which revealed some important gender differences in regard to the training of mountain leaders. An earlier study revealed a significant imbalance in the numbers of women involved in the leadership scheme and a significant drop-out of women progressing through that scheme. It suggested that a possible reason may be intrinsic to some parts of the syllabus. The present study examines this hypothesis. It provides clear support by revealing a number of differences in the way men and women perceive and use the scheme. Specifically, it shows a clear pattern in which items deemed to be useful by men are not seen to be useful by women and vice versa. The findings are discussed in terms of the requirement for women's needs to be considered not only in terms of how courses for mountain leaders are marketed and delivered, but also in terms of their aims and how they are constructed. |
