ABSTRACT
Deciding to return to higher education or deciding to run for political office are two very different life experiences, but they both require adult learning. For women, there are often issues around equity that affect participation in learning, whether it is in formal contexts, such as in higher education, or informal contexts, such as in the political sphere. Despite the commonly held perception that gender equality has been achieved in most Western societies, women still face numerous barriers around participation often linked with the fact that women tend to have non-linear life pathways. To explore this, this chapter draws upon three recently completed research studies conducted within Canada. The first of these examines women’s learning trajectories around continuing in higher education as mature students, while the other two look at issues around active citizenship and participation in governance. These research studies reveal that women face similar sorts of barriers to participation when they seek to advance themselves, regardless of whether it is by going back to university or by running for political office. The ‘politics of participation’ seem to be linked to gendered differences in life experiences and expectations that often create non-linear life and learning trajectories. Women face numerous social structural barriers that cannot simply be attributed to personal circumstances or individual capabilities, but rather, are indicative of entrenched patriarchal values that constrain women’s opportunities to participate in both formal and informal learning contexts that may lead women to having greater power in society.
