Through anecdotes, a female outdoor educator highlights the importance of role-modeling gender equality, but also suggests a need to explore the cultural assumptions behind sexual roles; what is served by them; and the social mechanisms that reinforce them, such as homophobia. Educational strategies to help women gain and claim competence in the…

Drawing from research on fear of failure and anecdotes from personal experience with the first women's expedition to ski to the South Pole, this discussion centers on how fear of failure affects women. Fear of failure leads to procrastination and performance well below one's ability. Women generally express more fear of failure than do men, partly…