This paper presents the latest developments on education made by the Spanish National research project Democratic Participation of Older Women to Overcome Ageism (ref. 38-3-ID22. Instituto de las Mujeres. Ministerio de Igualdad). This project aims to contribute to overcoming ageism and sexism through the identification of contributions of social impact that older women are making and that contribute to reducing gender inequalities and ageism in three areas: social participation, formal and non-formal education, and health. Firstly, the barriers and difficulties that prevent a democratic, equal, active, direct, inclusive, and sustainable participation of older women in the three areas identified are examined. Secondly, the contributions that older women are making to overcome these barriers are analysed, paying special attention to the intersection of inequalities in addition to ageism, such as the participation of women without higher academic degrees, cultural minorities, religious diversity, women in rural areas, older women with disabilities, among others.

Considering the theme of this year’s ECER 2023 conference on recognising other forms of diversity in learning contexts as well as seeking to highlight the successes and challenges resulting from the commitment of educational researchers and educational research to address and include diversity in all aspects of what we do. The main objective of this research project is to Identify barriers and difficulties that prevent the democratic, egalitarian, active and direct participation of older women in the field of social participation, formal and non-formal education, and health; along with making visible the contributions of social impact that older women are making and that contribute to reducing gender inequalities and ageism in the three areas studied. For this paper, we will focus on the area of education.

According to the WHO (2022), ageism is the third cause of discrimination in the world after racism and sexism. When age is used to categorize and divide people causing harm, disadvantage and injustice, it is ageism. This can take many forms, including bias, discrimination, institutional policies and practices that perpetuate stereotyped beliefs. Ageism can be institutional, interpersonal, or self-inflicted (WHO, 2022). A study carried out in 57 countries estimated the global prevalence of discrimination based on age towards the elderly, finding that one in two people has moderate or highly ageist attitudes.

In scientific research on aging, gender has been considered as a transversal determinant that affects in a relevant way. However, research on aging from a gender perspective is still scarce (Fernández-Mayoralas et al., 2018). The traditional exclusion of older women from academic research is illustrative of the gerontophobia of our culture (Freixas et al., 2012). The WHO World Report on Ageism (2022) concludes that more research is needed to better understand all aspects of ageism and that scientific evidence is needed on the efficacy of strategies to reduce ageism.

The Decade of Healthy Aging 2021-2030 promoted by the United Nations represents an opportunity and a unique international framework to improve the quality of life, health and well-being of older women from the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations and WHO have identified four main areas of action to promote healthy aging; one of them is the fight against discrimination based on age.

An interdisciplinary and interuniversity group of researchers have conducted qualitative theoretical and empirical research with a communicative orientation approach (Gomez, Puigvert & Flecha, 2011). This research approach favours the co-creation of knowledge based on equal dialogue with the women who participate in the research and with other groups. Besides conducting a review of the international scientific literature on the topic, the research team contacted a selection of organisations and initiatives previously identified and with a history of previous collaboration. Qualitative data was gathered by means of communicative life stories and discussion groups. Data was gathered in the section of education through five communicative life stories with older women who participate democratically in education and who, through their participation, contribute to overcoming ageism and other gender inequalities. Likewise, three interviews and a communicative discussion group was conducted with professionals and social agents to make visible both the barriers that hinder the democratic and equal participation of older women from an intersectional perspective, as well as the strategies and actions that some organizations and professionals carry out to contribute to overcome these barriers. Finally, another communicative discussion group was conducted with older women who participate democratically in education. The data was transcribed and analysed with the support of the ATLAS.ti Qualitative Data Analysis program and in accordance with the communicative orientation of the research, the analysis of the information allowed the identification of excluding and transforming components. The exclusionary components are those conditions, difficulties, and barriers that people and groups encounter and that reinforce the situation of inequality or exclusion. In the project, those barriers, conditions, elements, interactions that prevent or hinder the democratic participation of older women in the fields of social, educational and health participation (both at the system level and in the world of life).

The expected outcomes will be aimed at overcoming ageism and associated gender discrimination, providing evidence of contributions, traditionally invisible and underappreciated, that older women make in the three specific areas of social participation, formal and non-formal education, and health. For example, the isolation situation produced by COVID-19 has been doubly negative for the elderly, both in residences and those who had to reduce their physical activity and social interaction at home. During the pandemic, older women were twice as likely to report depressive symptoms compared to men, although the unique experiences and needs of older women during the pandemic remain largely unknown (Reppas-Rindlisbacher et al., 2022 ). Similarly, previously existing negative stereotypes and images against older people increased during the pandemic, projecting an image of helplessness, fragility and being unable to contribute to society (Ayalon et al., 2021). Something that the United Nations has also denounced (2022). A recent study carried out in a school for adults in which older people from different economic, ideological or professional backgrounds participate, found that, for older people, participating in educational activities in the adult school has a positive impact on relationships of friendship that they develop, as well as in their health and well-being (León-Jiménez, 2020). Dialogical participation of older people in communities improves their lives and those of the community (Tellado, 2017). The discrimination of ageism together with sexism causes invisibility and that older women are perceived as a homogeneous group, which implies a risk of neglect by institutional resources that needs to be analysed (Damonti & Amigot, 2021). The findings of this research aim to provide insights into the local, national and European organisations to challenge the difficulties that many older women still face today.

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