Women and distance education: a nursing perspective

It is only very recently that studies of distance learners have begun to consider gender as a variable. Given the rapid growth of distance education programmes for nurses, it is appropriate to consider at this time how educators can best meet the needs of these (mostly) women students. Distance education tends to mean different things in different institutions, ranging from the 'industrial model' self-study course package with limited teacher student interaction to the fully interactive audio and video conferencing of the 'virtual classroom'. Each of these teaching/learning situations poses a different set of challenges, and each requires different solutions. Using illustrations drawn from experiences with a BN programme for registered nurses in Atlantic Canada, and from the limited literature, this paper explores both women's participation in distance education and the barriers that sometimes prevent this, as well as the kind of support women distance learners need most in order to learn effectively.