P e r m i s s i o n o f R i g h t s h o l d e r s

Reading: Ch. 21. Adult Female Learner: Is That a Real Thing? (Women, Adult Education, and Leadership in
Canada: Inspiration, Passion, and Commitment)

Author: Duerden, J.

Editor: Clover, Darlene E.; Butterwick, Shauna J.; Collins, Laurel

Publisher: Thompson Educational Publishing, Inc. Publication Date: 2016 Pages: 271-282

Course: ADHE 412 93S 2022S1 An Overview of Adult Education

Course Code: 93S Term: 2022S1

Department: ADHE

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Adult Female Learner
Is That a Real Thing?

Female students now outnumber male students at Canadian post-secondary

institutions, yet our institutions seldom fully reflect this demographic shift in
terms of faculty complement or services. In 2009, only 33% of full-time faculty
was female (Statistics Canada, 2011). In terms of curriculum, universities
largely still teach “androcentric and Eurocentric, [that exemplify] white, male,
middle class, hetero-sexual and able-bodied norms which are taken for granted”
(Wagner, Acker, and Mayuzumi, 2008, p. 11). University culture is still primarily
geared towards the traditional student who enrolls in full-time daytime studies.
Since, according to Statistics Canada (2013), women now make up 56% of
Canada’s undergraduate students and 50% of graduate students, it is increasingly
difficult to describe them as non-traditional students, yet there they often remain.

Jan Duerden

271
In this chapter I argue that this group is not a marginal but rather an important
demographic. These are women who are re-entering academic study—or perhaps
entering it for the first time after raising their children—after a successful
career or due to changes they wish to make in their careers or lives. These adult
female learners bring to their post-secondary experience very different kinds of
strengths, knowledge, and needs, all of which must be reflected in a modern post­
secondary institution. The topic of this chapter is an important part of the larger
discussion about adult and higher education in Canada, not oiih because women
will play an increasing role in our post-secondary landscape but also because the
histories of both adult education and post-secondar) education are connected in
rich ways and both have a tendency to ignore women.

I became conscious of the issue/difference of adult female learners in my own

post-secondary classroom. I teach first-year academic writing; howe\ er, I have
a unique situation in that I teach wkiting classes for programs, including those
in our Schools of Social Work, Education and Nursing that often include a
significant number of adult female students. My sense has alwaj s been that these
students are undergoing significant changes in their lives and that “re-engaging”
with post-secondary education is a part of this process. Consequently, I am
curious about the li\ ed experience of these women learners and the potential
transformative quality of the experience, as well as how to support it. I also
sensed that my ow n teaching was largely shaped by adult female learners and
I needed to explore what it meant to be an adult woman studying at university.
I therefore developed a stud) that would tell me more about women’s history
within adult and post-secondary education, and how they experienced the post­
secondary classroom in their own words.
 31 . Adult Fcmtih l.eamei h That a Rt at Thing

Women and Adult Education in Canada: A Critical Past

This brings me to the title of this chapter. Whenever I attempted to explain my study to colleagues or
friends, I was met with a response that can be best summarized as “An adult female learner... is that a
real thing?” This reaction highlights the need for this type of study even more.

I begin my chapter with a look at the past, drawing attention to Frontier College in Toronto, the
YWCA, and the Women’s Institutes movements. From there, I provide an historical overview of
Canadian women’s engagement with post-secondary institutions and then finish with a look at an
exciting area of research that brings together the traditions of adult education and higher education
through the experiences of adult female learners.

A definitive compilation of women’s contributions to adult education in Canada is hardly possible,

and I have chosen to reach back into our history to highlight but a few examples that illustrate
links between women’s experience in adult and post-secondary education. When researching the
women whose work and lives created adult education in Canada, it is important to realize that
they were taking enormous risks and were up against powerful societal norms, often manifest in
the courses and foci of education that must at times have seemed insurmountable. Their strength
and determination cannot be ignored, and one realizes it is crucial to bring the same to our post­
secondary institutions today.

Women have been a critical presence in adult education, even if the official history has suggested
otherwise (Ambrose, 2000; Butterwick, 1998; Wigmore, 1991). We continue to work as adult
educators in formal and informal ways, and we work to expand our sphere of influence as scholars
researching and writing about learning as experienced by women. The field is notoriously varied
(some might say fragmented; some might say fluid) and uncovering the depth of our history is an
ongoing process. Examining women’s contributions requires reflection on the definitions of learning,
education, and influence and the social construction of these concepts. It is critical, however, to make
visible the risks women have taken to gain control of their education, both informal and formal, and
therefore of their lives. The marginality of women’s engagement with adult education in the historical
record is troubling, since the “history and foundation of adult education, at least in Canada, is so
closely related to the activities of various social movements for social justice” (Butterwick, 1998,
p. 105). Equally troubling is the omission of women from the history of post-secondary education,
since post-secondary institutions often pride themselves (at least theoretically) on open debate,
critical thinking, and the creation of a better society.

Early Connections
The enduring links between events, includingearly events, in adult education and current trends
in Canadian post-secondary education are many and even a brief examination of any single part of
the rich history of adult education proves this to be true. Such investigation reveals, among other
things, the complex interconnectivity of learning, literacy, economics, and social capital. Consider the
following. The influence of women in the well-documented Antigonish Movement was significant. Ida
Delaney and Kay Thompson were active insiders—Delaney in fieldwork, teaching, and public relations
and Thompson as a creator of teaching materials and editor of the Maritime Co-operator (Butterwick,

273
 Part IV, S ln tci uves and Atjency

1998). The impact of these and other pioneers is still seen in St. Francis Xavier University’s robust
adult education program today, and an indication of the growth of the field is the academic study
of it at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. No less than twelve Canadian universities offer
graduate programs focused on adult education, and at least two have undergraduate programs.
Additionally, the movement’s emphasis on social justice and the collective good echoes throughout
the history of women’s experience at the post-secondary level, including the fight for inclusion as
university students and the ongoing struggle to be fully represented in faculty numbers, curriculum,
and student services.

Frontier College is another example. Although often still associated with programs for men, it is
important to acknowledge that women were also involved as educators and participants. Founder
Alfred Fitzpatrick (1999), in his 1920 The University in Overalls, was an early advocate for a larger
role for women in literacy work. Alex Scott, Mariam Chisholm, and Isabel Mackey worked with
female workers in different rural, factory, and retail settings (Wigmore, 1991). University of Toronto
graduate Jessie Lucas was the college’s secretary-treasurer and registrar during its university
phase, holding these posts for a combined forty-three years (Wigmore, 1991). In an early example of
historical documentation authored by women, medical graduate and Frontier tutor Margaret Strang
maintained a record of her administrative duties and her instruction of labourers in rural camps in
western Canada (Wigmore, 1991). After a decrease in efforts to recruit women as tutors or students
during and after the Great Depression, there was an eventual increase in their participation in the
field, and in the “1970’s and 1980’s single women and couples were appointed to community projects
in eastern, northern and northwestern Canada [and] no longer were their roles thought unusual”
(Wigmore, 1991, p. 266). Women are now a critical force in Frontier College, as the organization has
moved into new arenas, including programs for female immigrants, domestic workers, and inmates.
A 2010 survey of Frontier College graduates suggested that 72% of respondents had gone on to some
type of post-secondary education, emphasizing the continuing impact of the organization (Frontier
College, 2010). Additionally, Frontier College’s practice of self-paced learning has influenced the
development of college and university preparation programs, women’s bridging programs, and
modern online-based learning.

“Alternative” Connections
*
Women’s participation in adult education has been, and in many ways continues to be, poorly
supported in conventional historical records (Ambrose, 2000; Butterwick, 1998; Wigmore, 1991).
A pervasive societal devaluing (and underfunding) of community and volunteer organizations,
parenting networks, and continuing/bridging education programs are not new. Rethinking
measures of influence, authority, and outcomes is important, as is making connections between our
experiences in these alternative organizations and post-secondary education. Even a selective look
at a few of these organizations illustrates such connections. For example, the first YWCA opened in
Saint John, NewBrunswick, in 1870, followed by centres in Toronto and Montréal (YMCA, 2014, para.
1), beforeexpanding tocreate a national system of evening classes, lending libraries, reading rooms,
and gymnasia for both immigrant and local club-women (Butterwick, 1998). In 1957, the Canadian
Association of Adult Education (CAAE) named the YWCA of Canada the most significant contributor

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 Adult Female Learner: Is That a Real I’hitKf?

“to the adult education field in Canada” (Harshaw, 1966, p. 28). The long-term impact of such
educational initiatives on post-secondary education should not be ignored: Montreal YWCA/YMCA
classes eventually expanded to become Concordia University in 1926 and, later in 1942, Ottawa’s
YWCA/YMCA grew to form Carleton University (YMCA, 2014).

By Women for Women

Equally important are other volunteer organizations, established by women, for women. I include
here only two early examples that established models for women’s activism and leadership that still
resonate today. The first Women’s Institutes began in Ontario in 1897 (Ambrose, 2000). They brought
women from isolated communities together for education in areas such as home economics, childcare,
and agriculture (Ambrose, 2000). By 1911 these Institutes were active in every province and, by
1913, the' Federal Women’s Institutes of Canada (FWIC) was established (Ambrose, 2000). FWIC
membership grew substantially until the 1960s and, since then, has moved away from the original
more rural focus to a renewed focus on women’s health, political activism, literacy, and education, the
latter in the form of endowments to universities and student scholarships (British Columbia Women’s
Institutes, 2008).

Another example of an early grassroots women’s organization that worked to create a model of
activism and the exercise of contemporary influence on women’s post-secondary experience is the
Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW). This group was established in 1919 in response
to women’s increasing participation in university classes (largely in education, nursing, and social
work) and work outside the home (CFUW, 2004). The CFUW s mandate was advocacy for women,
particularly around education and health, and the creation of intellectual activity among women,
including post-secondary scholarships and bursaries, now awarded in the amount of one million
dollars annually (CFUW, 2013).

These are only two organizations that foreshadow the development of a variety of resources that are
now a critical component of any post-secondary institution, including women’s health and women’s
resource centres, as well as women’s and gender studies programs. These initiatives seek to fill a
significant gap in both society at large and specifically post-secondary culture: the devaluing of
women’s roles, and the knowledge and power those give us.

Women and Canadian Post-Secondary Education

The Canadian post-secondary system has experienced tremendous growth over the past several
decades. In 2013, there were almost two million students enrolled in Canadian post-secondary
institutions (Statistics Canada, 2013). Despite this significant overall growth in enrollment numbers,
many post-secondary institutions are now grappling with declining enrollments within the
traditional student demographic (ages 18 to 24). As the “echo-boomers” move through the post­
secondary system, this demographic from which universities have historically drawn enrollment is
expected to diminish by 10% over the next decade (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada,
2011). In response, many post-secondary institutions are actively discussing the multi-faceted
concepts of student engagement, success, and persistence and, increasingly, this discussion is focused
on the retention of non-traditional students.

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 Port IV Structures <uul Agetu'i/

A review of current post-secondary enrollment statistics does not necessarily suggest that women be
considered as non-traditional students. It is important to note however that, historically, women were
not considered non-traditional students or even students at all, as our country’s oldest universities
excluded women for much of their formative years. For example, the oldest formal centre of education
in Canada, Université Laval, had existed for 212 years and the oldest public Canadian university, the
University of New Brunswick, had existed for 90 years before the first Canadian woman earned a
degree (Pernal, 2009).

(Very) Conditional Acceptance

Over two decades ago, Gillett (1998) provided an informative view of the history of women in
(Western) post-secondary institutions, dividing that history into four phases. The first period,
dating from approximately the late 11th to the early 19th centuries, begins with the emergence of
universities out of the European monastictradition, and centres of learning that “were essentially
elite institutions with male students and teachers, patriarchal values, hierarchical structures
and curricula, strongly influenced by the writings of the church fathers, Aristotle and, later, Neo-
Platonism” (Gillett, 1998, p. 36). Women were excluded from formal education as “higher learning
would fit men into appropriate public or leadership positions but was unnecessary for women” (Gillett,
1998, p. 36).

The second period was the result of challenges to intellectual and social traditions led by the
Enlightenment, the French and American revolutions, as well as science, industrialization, and
urbanization (Gillett, 1998). In the United States, Oberlin College first admitted women in 1837,
and all-women colleges were established, including Vassar, in 1861 (Gillett, 1998). Progress was
equally slow in Canada. For example, McGill only began to provide the Montréal Ladies’ Educational
Association with academic lectures in the early 1870s, and it wasn't until 1884 that women were
allowed to study on campus, albeit in segregated classrooms (McGill University, 2014). The first
Canadian woman to earn a bachelor’s degree was Grace Lockhart, who earned her B.Sc. at Mount
Allison in 1875 (Gillett, 1998). However, full acceptance within such institutions was hardly evident.
For example, in the 1880s, McGill only admitted women to the faculty of arts and gave them few
library privileges; the University ofToronto allowed women to sit exams but not attend classes
(Gillett, 1998). By 1901, women had attained 12% of the full-time undergraduate and professional
enrollments and 30% of full-time graduate students were women (Bellamy and Guppy, 1991). Also
worth noting is that once the contentious debate over women’s admittance to university waned, other
equally contentious debates emerged over residential facilities, appropriate models of co-education,
and course content (Bellamy and Guppy, 1991), echoing Caplan’s (1993) claim that “when any form
of prejudice is labelled as unacceptable, it does not simply vanish; rather it tends to take increasingly
subtler forms, thus protecting the prejudiced person from both social and legal accusations of
prejudice” (p. 17).

Despite such obstacles, women’s participation increased, leading Gillett’s (1998) third phase of
women’s participation in post-secondary education. This increase “reflects intellectual, social and
political shifts powered by the civil rights movement, second wave feminism and advances in human

276
 ui. Adult Female Learner: Is That a Reid Thiny?

rights” (Gillett, 1998, p. 41). The single most significant surge in enrollment in Canada was between
i960 and 1970. By 1985, the number of female students enrolled in post-secondary institutions
surpassed that of male students (Bellamy and Guppy, 1991), a trend that continues today.

Women have historically dominated enrollment in post-secondary education in non-university

settings, such as teacher colleges, hospitals, and community college. The community college system
in Canada grew significantly during this period, and colleges offering academic as well as vocational,
technical, academic preparation/bridging, and continuing education programs facilitated women’s
increased participation. On a curricular level, women’s and gender studies programs were developed
at many Canadian universities. The first women’s studies course was offered at the University of
Toronto in 1970: the first degree program was offered at the University of British Columbia in 1971
(Bondy, 2010).

Current Challenges
The fourth phase identified by Gillett (1998), I would argue, is being experienced now and new
concerns have arisen. The ongoing expansion of women’s participation in post-secondary education
co-exists with fiscal restraint, as traditional sources of funding for Canadian universities are cut
and a more entrepreneurial style of delivery emerges. Increasing tuition costs, larger classes, fewer
permanent or full-time professorships, and cuts to resources can be seen at all campuses. This
includes cuts to bridging programs and various literacy and academic upgrading programs that are
often adult female learners’ first experience with a post-secondary environment. This current global
neo-liberal and local deeply conservative political and economic climate has also resulted in direct
attacks on smaller academic departments and programs, including women’s and gender studies and
graduate programs, which by definition house adult learners. Claims that such departments and
programs are diminished or shut down to increase economic efficiency must be questioned, because
these programs are often sustained through both substantial volunteer hours on the part of faculty,
who Reimer (2004) argues are effectively working a double day, and on very lean budgets. The 2009
closure of Guelph University’s women’s studies program resulted in cutting a mere $78,000 from
the university’s annual budget, “the cost of two university advertisements in The Globe and Mail”
(Wendling, as cited in Belyk, 2009, p. 6).

The challenges currently facing women’s and gender studies across our post-secondary institutions
are of particular interest to scholars of adult education and, specifically, researchers focused on adult
female learners, because the fight to maintain these programs echoes similar fights in the past. The
current struggle to maintain educational programs designed by women about issues and scholarship
important to women and for women would not seem unfamiliar to the many female pioneers who
worked hard for representation within adult education and post-secondary landscapes. Additionally,
both students and faculty within women’s and gender studies programs are often actively engaged
with their community and with a variety of social justice issues, carrying on a tradition found across
the entire history of adult education in Canada. Students earn academic credit through women-
centred co-op placements, practica, and volunteer opportunities (Bondy, 2010). For example, at the
University of Victoria (UVic), students:

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 I\n't IV Structures and Aye >icy

work in sexual health agencies, in AIDS support groups, they’re in queer community groups,
in environmental agencies, in homeless youth volunteer work, in anti-violence groups, they’re
running newspapers, they’re on the student government and in proportion to their numbers in the
university, they stand out (St Peter as cited in Bondy, 2010, p. 1).

Post-Secondary and Adult Female Learners: Making the Connection

An exciting area of research that brings together the traditions of adult education and higher
education is enquiry into the experience of adult female learners returning to post-secondary
education. As noted in the introduction to this chapter, this is a demographic that is understudied
in adult education and post-secondary literature. As Pernal (2009) reminds us, “The demographic
change in gender and numbers of students in universities is a recognized phenomenon, but little is
known about older women students and how their lifelong learning affects society” (p. 3). To deepen
understanding of this rich subject and to encourage others to further investigate its complexities, I
highlight some of the findings of three recent qualitative studies authored by women (Duerden, 2013;
MacFadgen, 2007; Pernal, 2009).

The fact that post-secondary institutions are reflections of society and therefore largely replicate
patriarchy and intersectional inequities is proof that scholarship into adult female learners is of

© Ermolaev Alexander / Shutterstock.

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 Jt Adult Fi mule ¡.carnet: t That a Heal Thing?

critical importance. As Pernal (2009) illustrates, academia “has little consideration for my permanent
full-time position as a mother managing a homeplace or to my positions as a professional employee
and volunteer in thelargercommunity” (p. 16). A variety of multidimensional and dynamic themes
emerge from these studies, many of which can be subsumed under the main theme of belonging.
Just because women are a majority in student numbers does not mean they automatically feel they
belong, and these studies suggest the same can be said for adult female learners. The studies also
demonstrate the tremendous diversity within the experience of attending university as an adult
female learner. Sweeping generalizations simply cannot be made; however, the documenting and
therefore validating of individual experiences can allow us better understanding.

A Sense of Belonging
For adult women, the sense of whether or not one belongs at university begins long before one even
walks on campus. The fact that our patriarchal society has not traditionally supported the education
of women is one of the first obstacles faced, reflected in the fact that many women defer personal
goals, including educational goals, because society does not at present provide the financial and
material support all women need to balance the complexity of work inside and outside the home as
well as post-secondary education. Canadian women are still more likely than men to live in poverty,
be single parents, be (unpaid) primary caregivers in a dual parent family, and be paid less than men
in the workplace, all of which can be obstacles to enrolling in post-secondary education. Because
traditional thinking about women’s roles persists, returning to school as an adult is still considered by
many as unusual.

As mentioned in my introduction, when explaining my research on adult women returning to post­

secondary education, more than once I was met with a response that can be best summarized as “An
adult female learner—is that a real thing?” Pernal (2009) noted that upon being told that she was
returning to post-secondary, others were quizzical about her choice; some asked her to affirm that
she really was doing so. Pernal (2009) also suggested that universities needed to value part-time
enrolment, a path often chosen by adult female learners, as much as full-time enrolment. All of these
attitudes can have a significant impact of one’s sense of self, evidenced by one women adult learner’s
feelings as expressed to me on the night before her first university class: “Should I give this education
dream a rest and just accept my place in this world where I am?” (Duerden, 2013, p. 101).

A desire to connect to others, perhaps a very basic human need, is an important component of
belonging. This becomes clear whenever we move into a new environment or culture. Post-secondary
education is a new culture for all first-year students but, because universities have long been focused
on traditional university demographics, it is not surprising that adult learners have concerns about
inclusion. Each of these studies suggests that connecting with others, faculty, classmates, and even
one’s self is an important part of learning and that, for the adult female learner, connecting with
faculty and other adult female learners is of great importance.

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 IV. Structures ami Agency

Connecting with Faculty Members

Making a positive connection with faculty featured prominently in the findings of each of these three
studies. Such relationships proved the most influential contributor to what MacFadgen (2007) termed
“students’ successful integration” (p. 119) into post-secondary culture and what Duerden (2013) called
a “genuine sense of belonging” (p. 114). It is interesting to note that in my recent study, which included
seven adult female learners newly beginning post-secondary classes, past negative experiences
with education almost always involved a memory of a relationship or connection with a teacher. It
is also interesting to note that these students were exceptionally curious aboutfacultybefore the
start of classes. Some were curious if the faculty member would be about the same age as them, and
if they might have the same learning/teaching style. Others were worried about how faculty would
react to the students’ disclosure of a learning or physical exceptionality that required classroom
accommodation.

I n each of these studies, positive open communication with faculty was pivotal to students’
persistence in classes and successful orientation to university culture. Students across all three
studies reported that faculty played a large role in introducing them to the social and scholarly
practices of post-secondary culture, and that the relationship often felt collaborative in nature.
Feeling respected by faculty was crucial to building confidence for these women entering post­
secondary because, within that respect, “women as lifelong learners are acknowledged” (Pernal,
2009, p.183).

Connecting with Classmates

Connections to fellow classmates also play a key role in adult women’s experience of post-secondary
education. My research revealed evidence of the importance of connecting with other students
in a variety of circumstances. One adult female student found herself without adequate funding
to continue in school and, while in the financial aid office, wondered “are there others like me?”
(Duerden, 2013, p. 112). In a contrasting situation, another research participant, when experiencing
pride and accomplishment after having completed her first post-secondary course, claimed “others
should do this!” (Duerden, 2013, p. 112). MacFadgen (2007) found that several adult learners
expressed a preference for socializing with peers, and Pernal (2009) suggested that students in
her study sought out those with similar interests and, in particular, similar motivations. Students
in my study also actively sought out other adult female learners in the classroom (Duerden,
2013). However, positive relationships with other classmates should not be discounted. Three of
MacFadgen’s (2007) research participants “indicated they actually benefitted from the mix of ages
and the diverse interaction opportunities in the classroom” (p. 108), and Pernal (2009) found her
research participants “enjoyed the diversity of students and the feeling of a sense of community and
collegiality” (p. 127).

Such findings make clear that forming connections with faculty and classmates is an integral part of
the experience of adult female learners. These are just a few examples of the complexity that makes
adult women returning to post-secondary education such an important area of scholarly inquiry.

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 21 Adult fem a le Learner: Is That n Real Thing?

Conclusions
To answer those who might respond to the idea of adult female learners with “An adult female
learner—is that a real thing?” I say loudly and clearly, “Yes, we are real.” This chapter has tried, in a
brief way, to prove that adult women have always been a critical force in adult education in Canada
and, despite enormous (and continuing) obstacles, women of all ages are now creating change in
the Canadian post-secondary system, a system that has long replicated societal norms, especially
patriarchy. It is important to stay vigilant, since not all women benefit from change equally and
multiple forms of oppression cannot be ignored. Additionally, the fact that the expansion of women’s
participation in post-secondary education co-exists with a trend of extreme financial constraint
must be examined, since it is often programs for women, and particularly adult women, that
become vulnerable.

There is much more to learn about the impact of adult female learners on both post-secondary
education and, longer term, society at large. In fact, I would argue we are just beginning this journey.

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