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The outdoor domain has frequently been identified as one where women's skills and competences were undervalued compared with those of men. The aim of the study was to explore how men and women interact in the context of an educational wilderness expedition. The concepts of field, forms of capital and habitus of sociologist Pierre Bourdieu were used to highlight the distinctive strategies deployed by women and men to be recognized as outdoor leaders and improve their status within the expedition group. We carried out a multi-component ethnographic data collection to document three main aspects of the gender interactions: (1) the gender-based division of the outdoor activities; (2) the symbolic value given by the participants to the different types of outdoor involvement; and (3) the gender-based strategies to uplift or maintain one's own social status. Findings suggest that gender as well as social class are two intersections that played a significant role in participants' involvement and their chance to stand out. Data also indicate that women engage in various strategies to have their outdoor skills appreciated and therefore uplift their status within the group, while men build mainly on their traditionally recognized physical capital.

Group status hierarchies can affect individuals' experiences (e.g., sense of belonging) and the group's outcomes (e.g., cohesion) in group-based outdoor adventure education programs. The study aimed to explore how specific interpersonal status processes, which we also call the "relational status game," within an expedition group, affect inclusion and exclusion dynamics. Drawing on ethnographic data and a Bourdieusian sociological framework, we explore how members of an educational expedition group used their interpersonal relations and engaged in specific social interactions to maintain or improve their status. Six relational strategies that led to either social exclusion or social inclusion were identified. Relational strategies are interpersonal relations and interactions between group members that depend on one another's "objective" positions in the group and whose nature (positive or negative) can provide social status benefits for at least one member. Outdoor educators could build on those findings to raise groups' awareness about this issue in order to foster inclusive group dynamics.

Group status hierarchies can affect the experience of individuals and the outcomes in groups of outdoor adventure education programs. As status is associated with perceived competence, this study aimed to explore the strategies used by group members to influence others' perceptions of their competence in an educational expedition group. Drawing on ethnographic data, a Bourdieusian sociological framework was used to highlight the rationale underlying the different strategies identified. First, we examined the group communication dynamics, and situated participants' communication and leadership acts in the specific hierarchical social context of the group. Second, we identified three categories of strategies aiming at improving one's perceived competence: a) implicit claim of expertise, b) strategies that threatened the status of others or group outcomes, and c) strategies to mitigate status disadvantages. Building on these results, we proposed ways for practitioners to improve inclusivity, student safety, and learning.