Farm Women: An overview of the literature in a UK context.

Farming is a heavily gendered environment. In this review paper we introduce, theorise and discuss the triadic research themes of ‘Women Farmers’, ’Farmers Wives’ and ‘Farm Women’ as an under researched social status group and resource. The term farm women include ‘farmers’ mothers and daughters’ and the ‘wives and daughters of farm workers’ but also ‘migrant workers’ whom are under-represented in the literature. Increasingly, women make up a considerable proportion of agricultural students and the land-based workforce. Such women and particularly women farmers have a marginalised voice in existing formal discourse. Indeed, little is written about women farmers in either the rural entrepreneurship literature or the entrepreneurship and gender literature with the limited exception of asking questions and attempting to answer questions about the role of household and off farm work. There are studies in the agricultural literature but there is an identifiable research gap relating to what they do and how they do it and more importantly their official status. Historically farm women in the wider context often received limited or no formal management skill or training or an agricultural education, but this is changing. Consequentially, this educational transition is of interest within the wider context of women being considered as an under recognised and under-valued resource worthy of further research.