| Women preparing for men's occupations. A Phenomenology is an in-depth investigation into the phenomenon of learning among seven articulate and mature adult women enrolled in male-dominated occupational programs located at a suburban community college in the western United States. The participants of this phenomenological study were a purposeful homogeneous sample of articulate Caucasian women over the age of 25 enrolled in a community college's male-dominated occupational programs. Their voices were captured in three intensive interviews. The interviews of three male faculty members involved in male-dominated programs and observations conducted in two classrooms of such programs served to triangulate and validate the data gathered from the women. Four central themes emerged from the data gathered: Maturity, Connected Knowledge, Empowerment, and Absence of Solo Status. Most of the women in this study confronted the silences that oppressed them in the workforce and resigned their positions as they became aware of what was happening to them. They returned to familiar, more comforting territory---school---in an effort to regain or find their voices. The study's results led to recommendations regarding women's learning in male-dominated occupational programs. The first of these is the importance of recognizing all virtues, skills, and experiences that mature women offer an occupational program and its other students: leadership skills, empathy, and invaluable life and learning experiences. Second, learning is enhanced if the students are empowered: they should be encouraged, valued, and all their voices heard in a climate that fosters respect. Acknowledging the power inherent in the teaching role, feminists seek ways to empower students in the educational process. Third, programs that wish to enhance women's learning should commit to recognize and accommodate multiple learning styles, as well as respect the different contexts of students' lives. This feminist pedagogical approach lends itself well to the teaching of adult women and also benefits male students. Such programs would integrate cognitions, feelings, and experiences and teachers would engage with students in a mutual learning process. Knowledge is shared by all members of the class so the outcome is that there are actually x instructors in the class, including the teacher and every one of the students, all learning from one another. |
