回流教育與終生學習是當前我國及很多先進國家所追求的教育願景。目前大多數的大專院校都努力吸引與鼓勵更多成年人進修高等教育。二十一世紀，在台灣遠距教學，選擇空大與空中學院進修的成年女性學習者的人數不斷增加。從這個觀點來看，未來婦女將更多是以工作生涯取向（career-oriented），而不是以收入取向（income-oriented）的生涯型態。為了強調遠距教學可以加速並提升台灣婦女的教育程度，本文將探討以下幾個層面：（一）婦女在工作與事業生涯上扮演角色的演進；（二）成年女性學習者參與學習的理由與阻礙；（三）遠距教學的內涵與特點；（四）針對成年女性學習者，遠距教學課程的設計原則。二十一世紀的遠距教學有無限的發展空間，尤其是對於婦女教育的提升。

As the world is heading for a universal community, distance education and life-long learning are riding on the mainstream. At present, most colleges are trying hard to attract more adults to enroll in advanced studies. In this twenty-first Century, in Taiwan more and more Chinese woman will rely upon distance education by using the channels of National Open University and Open Colleges. It is anticipated that the Chinese woman in the future will be more career-oriented than being income-oriented. To highlight the assumption that distance education can facilitate and upgrade educational background for women in Taiwan, this paper explores the following emphases: (1) The role a woman plays in the job and career; (2) Reasons prompting adult woman into learning and the barriers; (3) the definition and characteristics of distance education; and (4) principles of curricular design in distance education for female adult learners.