Agricultural education: Gender identity and knowledge exchange

• Published in: Journal of rural studies Vol. 24; no. 4; pp. 432 - 439
• Main Authors: Trauger, Amy, Sachs, Carolyn, Barbercheck, Mary, Kiernan, Nancy Ellen, Brasier, Kathy, Findeis, Jill
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2008; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agricultural Education; Agricultural Occupations; education; Education systems; Educational programming; Educational Research; Farmers; farming systems; farmwives; Females; Focus Groups; Gender Bias; gender differences; gender identity; Identity; knowledge; Knowledge transfer; Land Grant Universities; men; Network; Networks; Pennsylvania; Program Development; Rural Areas; Rural Communities; Rural Education; Rural Environment; Rural Extension; rural sociology; Sex inequality; Sex Role; Sex Stereotypes; Sexual Identity; Social Constructionism; Social Environment; Social Networks; Technical Assistance; U.S.A; women; Women farmers; women in agriculture; Women's role; Womens Education; Working Women; Pennsylvania; USA, Pennsylvania; Educational programming; Women farmers; Network
• ISSN: 0743-0167; 1873-1392
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jrurstud.2008.03.007

Women farmers are underserved in agricultural education and technical assistance. Long held social constructions of farming women as ‘farmwives’ and in some cases ‘the bookkeepers’ rather than farmers or decision-makers influence the direction of most educational programming delivered through extension programs in land-grant universities in the United States. Consequently, many women farmers generally view these spaces as hostile, rather than helpful environments. This paper uses the agricultural training framework developed by Liepins and Schick (1998) to analyze our research on developing educational programming for women farmers. We conducted five focus groups with members of the Pennsylvania Women's Agricultural Network (PA-WAgN) to better understand women farmers’ needs for education. Women farmers reported the kinds of knowledge and information they want, in what kinds of contexts, and through what means of communication. We adapt and extend the original theoretical framework developed by Liepins and Schick to incorporate the seriality of women's identities, their discourses of embodiment and the agency granted to them through social networks. Through a presentation of the results of these focus groups, we discuss both the relevance of gender to agricultural education and the importance of the network model in providing education to women farmers.