The purpose of this study was to find f)U~ the. major. ..v..a. riables that affect the academic performance of ~rnwomen distant students in the distance training program of the Ethiopian Management DevelopmentrnProject, with specific reference to the study centers in Regions 4 & 14. To this end, three datarncollection methods and instruments (documentary analysis, questionnaire and interview) werernemployed. Furthermore, sixty four women and sixty four men ~istant students of the certi~cate-Ievelrntraining program, their tutors (twelve in number) and the coordinators of the three target studyrncenters were used as subjects of the study. Percentages, chi-square, weighted mean, t-test, multiplernregression analysis and one-way ANOVA were employed to analyze the data.rnFindings made clear that in both regions the sampled women distant students perform significantlyrnlower than their men counterparts on their Tutor-Marked Assignments. Whereas the post secondaryrneducation level of Region 4 women distant students (which is largely below a diploma leVel) found tornhave significant impact on their performance ill the T utor- Marked Assignments, that of Region 14rnwomen distant students (which is mostly a diploma level) failed to have significant impact upon theirrnperformance in the Tutor Marked Assignments. Besides, lack of adequate English languagernproficiency was found to be the most common variable among women distant students of bothrnregions that appear to affect their performance. The sampled women distant students' lack ofrnwillingness to initiate calls to tutors is still found to be a common barrier that could affect theirrnperformance in their distance training.rnOn the other hand, the tutors' apparent lack of awareness in gender-sensitive tutorial practice & thernprocess of women's desired way of learning (interpersonal exploration) appear to have limited theirrnrole in facilitating the learning of their women distant students. Moreover, the greater familyrnresponsibilities of most women distant students (involvement in household chores and child care)rnseem to have hindered their academic performance more seriously than their men counterparts. Inrnconnection with this, most women distant students were found to be engaged in various socialrncommitments (more than their male counterparts) which appears to have been another impedimentrnto their academic performance in their distance training.rnFinally, the following recommendations were forwarded to improve the performance of women distantrnstudents in the distance training: conducting a preliminary needs assessment as to the educationalrnbackground, needs and problems of the target women distant students prior to offering distancerntraining; changing the medium of instruction of the training from English to the reg ional languagesrn(i.e. Amharic & Oromifa); introducing special student support initiatives for women distant studentsrn(i.e. increasing tutorial hours; preparatory weekend) that counteract their various gender-relatedrnbarriers to their distance training; introducing a tutor-recruitment system that encourage morernqualified female tutors; arranging workshops, seminars etc. for the tutors on gender-sensitivernteaching-learning process and women's desired way of learning.