Women and Girls in Outdoor Education: Scoping the Research Literature and Exploring Prospects for Future Body Image Enquiry

Abstract: Research into women’s and girls’ outdoor programs and their influence on perceived body image has gained scholarly attention in recent decades. A systematic review of research from 1980–2017 identifies key trends and themes revealing opportunities to advance understandings in the field. In particular, while there has been extensive research conducted on women’s and girls’ outdoor education programs from various perspectives, there is a shortage of robust research examining the impact of outdoor education on body image. While identifying some trends, the broad scope of the enquiry highlights the scarcity of this empirical data, and calls for heightened emphasis and scholarly debate in the area of body image and outdoor education.