The aim with this article is to discuss how changes in technology at workplaces engender both change and restoration of gender constructions within the context of underground mining. The discussions are formed around a constructed case based on material from gender and organizational studies of large-scale industrial mines in different countries, most of them from Sweden. New technologies such as digitalization and automation together with new organizational forms engender changes in mining work, e.g., new types of work tasks, new competence demands, and a move from underground to high-tech control rooms aboveground. One main observation is that the changes challenge the old and recalcitrant blue-collar mining masculinity. On the one hand, the organizational resistance and “lagging” seemed to result in re-gendering and restoration of the male dominance. On the other hand, there were tendencies to adaptation in the workplace cultures, including new ways of forming mining masculinities, perhaps even undoing of gender. The main conclusion is that the most probable development lies somewhere in-between and by analyzing such complex processes of gender, technology, and change future research can get more knowledge of changes of gender constructions in working life.

The relation between the concepts and practices of gender mainstreaming and organisational learning, and its prerequisite for change, is not well understood in either research or practice. Drawing on a participatory design process of a model for assessing the potential of gender equality interventions to change gendered organisations, this study explores the relation between gender mainstreaming and the concepts and practices of organisational learning and learning organisations to improve the capacity of organisations to undertake developmental and organisational change. The findings stress the effect of the organisational context and logics on the level of distinctness in the goals and processes of gender equality work and organisational learning. By highlighting the interrelation between organisational logics in relation to the processes of organisational change, learning and integration, the results thereby revealed how a more formal and technocratic approach creates both potential openings for and barriers to organisational change and learning.

Background: Over decades, companies have been integrating quality management to constantly improve and develop their businesses. Techniques and tools have been used as support to meet the company’s values, and to increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduce amount of resources. Recent projects have demonstrated that gender mainstreaming works as an effective approach for business improvement and development. The method is claimed to have a positive impact on the company’s business performance, for instance by improved working environment, increased creative and innovative capacity of employees and an increased ability to attract well-trained staff. In addition, it is considered that gender mainstreaming contributes to social sustainability and the achievement of the UN’s global goals faster, which in turn leads to sustainable development.

Purpose: The purpose of this study has been to investigate how gender mainstreaming and quality management interact, and how gender mainstreaming can contribute to the improvement of construction projects.

Methodology: The study has been carried out as an in-depth case study at Skanska Commercial Development Nordic in Gothenburg. In order to understand the business case, its problem and current situation, a qualitative methodology with quantitative data was made. The qualitative data was used to obtain a deeper understanding of the case, and the quantitative data consisted of statistics from the company and the construction industry. As method of analysis, a Thematic analysis and Voice Of The Customer Table (VOCT) was done to understand the needs of the employees at Skanska.

Result: In the study’s theoretical framework, several similarities between gender mainstreaming and quality management were identified, in which gender mainstreaming could be seen as a technique within quality management. From the study of Skanska’s way of working, it emerged that there is no link between their work with quality and gender equality. That entails gender mainstreaming in the project Götakvarteren will involve major changes as new ideas and methods must be established. On the other hand, the analysis indicated that the employees need of an equal construction project would be beneficial for the company’s sustainable development. Based on the needs of the employees, recommendations have been given for how Götakvarteren could become profitable by becoming Skanska’s most equal project.

Conclusion: There is a distinct link between gender mainstreaming and quality management, in which gender mainstreaming can be argued to be a technique within quality management. Just as Skanska’s current quality management system, the work with gender equality should be integrated in the daily activities and accepted as a method for continuous improvement. After identifying the company’s challenges, opportunities and needs, actions have been developed for how gender mainstreaming can contribute to successful and equal construction projects.

Denna studie syftar till att analysera hur förskollärare i Tornedalen konstruerar genus i förskolan. Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär med utgångspunkt i det socialkonstruktionistiska perspektivet. Datainsamling till studien har skett genom skriftliga intervjuer med 13 förskollärare som är verksamma inom yrket i Tornedalen. Resultatet visa att förskollärarna konstruerar genus utifrån tre områden: Förhållningssätt, miljö och språk. Vidare visar resultatet på en osäkerhet kring begreppet genus men även olika utmaningar som konstrueras i förskollärarnas arbete att motverka traditionella könsnormer. 

Swedish 1 is a required course in all vocational and academic programs in secondary schools in Sweden. Government studies show a deficit of sex and gender perspectives in the study materials today. The aim of this thesis in Swedish with a didactic approach is to analyze dif-ferent textbooks for course Swedish 1 to visualize sex and gender perspectives conveyed. To my help, I have in the analysis used the Yvonne Hirdman's theories about gender system and Judith Butler's theories of performativity. The thesis also contains a less extensive survey made in different classes in secondary school who is reading Swedish 1. The analysis reveals that there is a deficit of sex and gender perspective in teaching aids, as well as different per-spectives of sexuality and ethnicity for example. It is also a part of the students who partici-pated in the survey prepared to agree with

Syftet med denna studie är att normkritiskt granska litteraturläsning i förskolan, samt det litterära materialet, ur ett genusperspektiv. Studien belyser, med hjälp av ett poststrukturellt perspektiv, vilka möjligheter till normkritik och normkreativitet som förekommer i högläsningsaktiviteter på förskolan, genom att analysera diskursen i såväl litteratur som pedagogens bemötande och förhållningssätt. Studiens metod är kvalitativ och utgörs av observationer med fältanteckningar samt videoobservationer. Studiens data kommer från två olika förskolor i samma kommun. Resultatet visar att det finns material för såväl normkritiska som normkreativa diskussioner i förskolornas litterära utbud men att denna litteratur kräver en diskussion för att fungera normbrytande. Därtill synliggör resultatet att normkritiska och normkreativa diskussioner relaterat till genus och kön, normbrytande reflektioner eller andra reflektioner är ett ovanligt inslag förskolornas lässtunder. Resultatet påvisar därtill subtila, men ändå synliga, skillnader mellan hur pedagoger bemöter flickor och pojkar vilket tolkat ur ett poststrukturellt teoretiskt perspektiv positionerar barnen och styr vilka identiteter som kan konstrueras och vilket subjektsskapande som kan ske. Förhoppningen är att studien kan bidra med ytterligare kunskap till det viktiga men outforskade området normkritik vid litteraturläsning ur ett genusperspektiv. Nyckelord: Genus, Kön, Litteraturläsning, Normkritik, Normkreativitet

This article reviews the expanding research field of gender in industrial mine work and organizations. The findings show that the literature provides nuanced insights into the prevalence of men and masculinities in industrial mine work as related to masculine mining ideals and patriarchal family structures, gendered practices and processes within mining organizations, the strategies of marginalized identities, and counterproductive attempts to increase equality and diversity in mining. Signs of potential change were also identified in the form of empowered women in mining and alternative mining masculinities. Articles focused on women and mining in specific organizations and national contexts dominate the field, with a more heterogeneous array of articles that empirically and theoretically expand on the earlier literature. Few studies elaborate on intersectionality, various forms of masculinity and the doing of gender within various professions and occupations in mining organizations. Future research should expand the theoretical framework of gender in mining organizations and broaden its empirical base through comparative approaches, quantitative and mixed methodologies, and a renewed focus on the dominant group in mining organizations, i.e., men.

Inom dans är det vanligt med stereotypiska könsmönster. Studiens syfte är att synliggöra och analysera lärarens förhållningssätt till genus inom dansundervisningen. Studien är kvalitativ och bygger på teorier om socialkonstruktionism, normer, genus och medieekologi. Metoder som används är semistrukturerade intervjuer med hjälp av stimulated recall. Tre deltagare, en man och två kvinnor från olika geografiska områden, har delat med sig av sina tankar kring genusarbeteinom dansundervisningen.

Resultatet visar att samtliga danslärare arbetar med att integrera genusperspektiv i undervisningen genom olika pedagogiska metoder. Centrala aspekter är att bemöta eleverna varierat och utforska stereotypiska könsmönster. Vidare råder det delade meningar kring de maskulina aspekterna av dancehall, särskilt de som betonar våld, ska användas i dansundervisningen. Female dancehall ses som ett uttryck för styrka och självförtroende, men danslärarna anser att användningen av sexuellt kodade rörelser bör övervägas individuellt. Ytterligare resultat är att det krävs medvetenhet kringbarns exponeringar för sociala medier. 

Slutsatsen är att danslärarna visar stor medvetenhet hur genusarbetet inom dansundervisningen kan genomföras. Eleverna tillåts att utforska och uttrycka olika könsmönster och hitta sin egen identitet. 

Professional business-to-business sales work and relations tend to be interlinked with structures and symbols of certain forms of masculinity. From interviews held with office staff employed by a large male-dominated company in the Swedish base industry, this study explores how the gendering of sales work is enabled and contested in relation to the practices and processes of specific organizations. The presented findings show how negotiations of “good sales” involve contestations of specific gendering practices and of the value of sales work, sales relations and underlying organizational values and control. As a result, homosocial behaviors and masculine ideals associated with the salesperson no longer hold privileged positions in organizations. However, it was the individual salespersons and their behavior that were put forward as the primary problem rather than the organizational practices and processes providing men with power, space and subjectivity. Thus, the negotiations of sales work and relations seem to lead not to disruptions but to a restructuring of masculinities and to a reshaping of organizational inequalities in a company.

Based on a case study of one large company in the Swedish forest sector, this article explores the nature and practice of workplace harassment in forestry organizations. A questionnaire answered by 645 employees (92.5% response rate) shows that both women and men report experiences of harassment at work, although in different forms, with different frequencies and with different consequences. A total of 38% of women and 14% of men employed by the company report experiences of harassment at work. Both women and men most often experience verbal and psychological harassment by coworkers during day-to-day activities. However, unlike men, women also experience workplace harassment that takes place on and across a wider range of spatial and temporal relations and with various perpetrators involved. Also evident was that women respondents had a more negative perception of company culture and gender equality status compared with men, and the most negative perceptions were from women reporting experiences of harassment. Based on this case study, the article provides quantitative descriptions of workplace harassment experienced by women in Swedish forestry organizations that were previously explored from a qualitative perspective. This article also adds new insights into the existence of workplace harassment in forestry organizations that is not of a sexual nature and that not only women but also men report.

This study analyses how women professionals make sense of change with regard to gender (in)equality in the Swedish forestry sector. While most participants described an increased focus on gender equality in the sector, perceptions of change varied. Descriptions emphasising progress observe change in the sense that an increased focus on gender equality has meant that explicit sexism is no longer tolerated. Descriptions emphasising stability, however, consider that this focus has not allowed for a transformation of the sectors embedded in masculine structures and cultures. The study thus points to a discrepancy between what organisations ‘do’ and what they ‘say they do’, which sheds light on the various forms of power, conflict and resistance involved in the constitutions of gender equality. To truly promote gender equality in the Swedish forestry sector, researchers and policy-makers must continue to make visible, address and challenge the complex practices and processes involved in organisational transformation.

The title of this thesis is Business as usual? Doing gender equality in Swedish forestry work organizations and while the latter part, the subtitle, is rather self-explanatory, the former part can be read in different ways. The aim of the thesis is to increase the understanding of the doing of gender equality in the male dominated work organizations of the Swedish forestry sector, and thereby contribute both theoretical and empirical understanding regarding how doing gender equality in the forestry sector relates both to notions of gender and notions of organizations. Forestry has traditionally been characterized by physically demanding, manual harvesting work, with practical and symbolic associations with men and certain forms of masculinity. The forestry sector still remains one of the most gender segregated labour forces in Sweden, all while gender equality has been addressed to some extent during the 2000s. The theoretical frame of reference of the present thesis is rooted in feminist organizational research and the doing gender framework. Based on a perspective of reality as socially constructed and by deploying a feminist participatory action research methodology, my analysis focuses on how complexities of meanings are ascribed to the actions and processes, that are framed as gender equality and I have qualitatively analysed empirical material, such as policy documents, interviews and written testimonies of sexual harassment, that explicate these aspects of doing gender equality in organizations. The thesis is built experiences from two different research- and development projects and consists of 5 articles and a synthetizing chapter.

The results highlight how doing gender equality relates to notions of gender as well as notions of organization. In both Article I, where policies were studied and in Article II, that builds on interviews, women are in general constructed as the “other”, as people who lack (forestry) skills and competences and who are in need of help or as contributors of social and emotional competence. Men and masculine norms are mainly absent from the doing of gender equality in this material, just as notions of the organization. But, deploying a feminist participatory action research methodology can bring forward other perspectives on gender equality, as shown in Articles IV and V, such as the articulations of men and masculinities. Further, this thesis shows that gender equality is in general understood by the organizations studied as a process that regards gender, predominantly women, rather than the organization. Put differently, gender equality work in the forestry sector does not to any significant extent, affect what is perceived as the core activities in these organizations. However, the overarching depoliticized and degendered business case framing that mainly evades accounting for the role of the organization when doing gender equality, is disrupted by the testimonies of #slutavverkat explored in Article III. Here, the political dimension of gender equality is highlighted by stories of men’s behaviours (reprehended but at the same time sanctioned) in organizations that come at the expense of women’s rights to a workplace free from condescending comments, harassment and sexual violence. While previous research has pointed to the importance of gender awareness, and gender aware leadership, in organizations that wish to succeed with their gender equality work, this thesis suggests that there is also a need for “gendered organization awareness” in order to understand and discuss not only how gender is done in organizations but also how everyday organizational life, such as notions of competence, is done and how that in turn relates to gender and power. This underlines the need for organizations to make room for conflicts and politics and to let the otherwise marginalized voices contribute to more nuanced interpretations of gender equality.

The title Business as usual? encompasses the starting points for the thesis work as well as the main findings. Read with an emphasis on business, the seemingly all-embracing business case rhetoric’s that encloses the official narratives of gender equality in the forestry sector are visualized, while emphasizing as usual denotes to the sectors resistance to do other than what it usually does. Read as the hole saying, business as usual, that title signals that gender equality work is done in ways that not interfere with forestry core activities, thus making gender equality work in the organizations side streamed or de-coupled. Yet, read with emphasis on the question mark, opens up for the subversive potential that nevertheless exists when more multifaceted ways of making sense of gender equality are articulated and as the findings suggests that there are ways to re-gender and re-politicize organizational gender equality work in the context of forestry work organizations.

Building on the claim that gender matters, this chapter problematizes the possibilities and constraints that the rising bioeconomy discourse offers regarding the gendered practices of forestry. While (pre)industrial forestry centred around a goods-dominant logic (“the pile of timber”), contemporary forestry is in some ways incorporating a more service-dominant logic (“the pile of timber plus something else”). The gendered practice of forestry, however, still draws on notions of mas- culinity rooted in the physically demanding manual harvesting work, in tandem with technical know-how and the overall industry is struggling with gender equality issues. The emergence of the bioeconomy as a new meta-discourse in forestry, where the industry is aiming to articulate itself as sustainable, modern and competitive, may challange the almost all male structures of forestry so that the future of forestry is more diverse. We conclude that the bioeconomy is unlikely to solely challenge the gendered practices of forestry because of its inherent neoliberal gender blindness, but with awareness of gender and power, this new discourse may at least offer an opening for problematizing taken-for-granted practices and values which in turn have the potential to shape the forestry of tomorrow in a more inclusive and diverse way.

”På väg mot jämställda och attraktiva kommuner” är ett utvecklingsarbete som drivits av Norrbottens Kommuner1 under 2018-2021. Det har omfattat processtöd och kunskapsstöd till fem norrbottniska kommuner i deras implementering av den europeiska deklarationen för jämställdhet, som förkortat kallas för CEMR-deklarationen (CEMR, 2009). De kommuner som deltagit är Gällivare kommun, Haparanda kommun, Jokkmokk kommun, Kalix kommun och Övertorneå kommun. Utvecklingsarbetet skulle bland annat bidra till ökad kunskap och ett strukturerat arbetssätt på alla nivåer i dessa kommuner, vad gäller jämställdhetsintegrering med ett intersektionellt perspektiv. Med jämställdhet menas i detta sammanhang att kvinnor och män ska ha samma makt att forma samhället och sina egna liv. Med jämställdhetsintegrering menas en organisatorisk strategi, där ett jämställdhetsperspektiv beaktas inom alla områden, nivåer och faser i en verksamhet. Med intersektionalitet menas samspelet mellan olika diskrimineringsgrunder, såsom kön, ålder, etnicitet, funktionsnedsättning och sexuell läggning.  För att tillvarata lärdomar från tidigare forskning har Luleå tekniska universitet bidragit med ett kontinuerligt kunskapsstöd till utvecklingsarbetet. Det har omfattat reflekterande samtal med projektledning, deltagande observationer vid styrgruppsmöten och kommunernas erfarenhetsutbyten, samt skriftliga analyser av utvecklingsarbetet. I denna rapport presenteras den sammantagna analysen av utvecklingsarbetet, baserat på samtal, deltagande observationer och skriftliga dokument (till exempel projektplan, powerpoints och rapporter). Rapporten inleds med lärdomar från tidigare forskning om könsmönster och jämställdhetsinsatser. Därefter beskrivs utvecklingsarbetet i de norrbottniska kommunerna och analyseras i ljuset av tidigare forskning. 

I denna forskningsrapport studeras utvecklingen av två digitala jämställdhetsverktyg – Richer Business och iGen – som är avsedda att vara ett stöd för jämställdhetsinsatser i framför allt små och medelstora företag. Verktygsutvecklingen har skett inom ramen för projekten Genusakademin och Gender Smart Arena som drivits i samarbete mellan akademi, näringsliv och samhälle. Rapporten syftar till att öka kunskapen om hur gemensam verktygsutveckling kan gå till i samverkan mellan aktörer från olika samhällssektorer. Det görs genom att beskriva och analysera projektens verktygsutveckling i ljuset av tidigare forskning. Rapporten är en uppföljare till en tidigare forskningsrapport där flera olika digitala jämställdhetsverktyg studerades (Lindberg 2019). Den inleds med en sammanfattning av tidigare forskning om stödverktyg i jämställdhetsinsatser. Därefter beskrivs verktygsutvecklingen i Genusakademin och Gender Smart Arena. Slutligen analyseras verktygsutvecklingen utifrån tidigare forskning.

In this chapter, the experiences from Gender Contact Point and The Gender Academy are harnessed with the purpose of advancing knowledge on how the societal impact and the societal relevance of research on gender issues may be reinforced by co- creative platforms for academia- society cooperation. In exploring Swedish cases, this study adds to the research stream on gender in regional innovation systems that was established by Scandinavian scholars. The research questions addressed in the study are: i) how are these co- creative platforms organized and managed?; ii) what co- creative forms and forums are applied in the platforms?; and iii) what challenges and potentials are perceivable in the platforms’ efforts to reinforce the societal impact and the societal relevance of research on gender issues? Previous research on social innovation helps address these questions, by pinpointing mechanisms for societal and organizational transformation in co- creative platforms. 

Co-creative forms and arenas for knowledge and innovation development have increasingly been promoted and established during the last decade, where researchers and stakeholders jointly identify, explore and solve urgent societal issues. These forms and arenas include infrastructures (e.g. Innovation Platforms, University-Society Partnerships), lab formats (e.g. Living Labs, Design Labs, Policy Labs, Urban Labs), dialogue concepts (e.g. Science Shops, AIMday) and methodologies (e.g. Future Workshops, Empowering Dialogues, Research Circles). Drawing on participatory and emancipatory traditions in gender studies, design studies, working-life studies and science of education, these co-creative forms and arenas generally aspire to improve societal and scientific relevance, impact, legitimacy and validity in research and innovation. Research and innovation policies in Sweden and the EU further such initiatives, as part of policy agendas for sustained growth and welfare. The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is currently funding two parallel processes, aiming to establish platforms for academia-industry co-creation in two Swedish regions: Genusakademin in Värmland and Gender Smart Arena in Norrbotten. Both platforms focus on joint knowledge production and innovation development for sustainable gender equality, involving gender researchers from the local universities – Karlstad University and Luleå University of Technology – and industrial companies in male-dominated industries, e.g. ICT, transports, steels and foods. This study investigates the transformative potential of these platforms, in relation to social norms and patterns in the involved organizations and their surrounding society. The main research question concerns how far the re-thinking of established knowledge and innovation regimes may extend, when gender researchers with participatory and emancipatory agendas partner up with commercial, industrial companies, as part of a growth-focused ERDF project. This question is addressed through a qualitative, abductive analysis of data from interviews, participatory observations and document studies carried out in both projects during 2018-2019.

Studiens syfte är att hitta möjliga metoder och strategier som kan hjälpa till att främja jämställdhet i skolan. Detta med en samhällsdidaktisk inriktning utifrån ett genusteoretiskt perspektiv. Studiens empiri utgörs av semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med behöriga undervisande samhällskunskapslärare i en medelstor kommun i norra Sverige. Metodvalet är inspirerat av hermeneutisk metodologi. Jämställdhet, genus, könsmönster och ämnesdidaktisk realisering är centrala begrepp som behandlas kontinuerligt genom hela studien. Studien, som ämnar ge ett genusperspektiv på samhällskunskapsundervisningen, visar bland annat att skönlitteratur används framgångsrikt i ämnet, även diskussion. Ytterligare en upptäckt är diskussion om ett annat könsuttryck och att bemötandet av pojkar och flickor kan skilja sig åt. Avslutningsvis diskuteras behovet av en ökad medvetenhet bland lärare där begreppet intersektionalitet får en betydande roll.

Jämställdhet är en del av skolans värdegrund. Feminism, ett svårtolkat begrepp kan tyckas, har nära kopplingar till jämställdhet, särskillt ur ett historiskt perspektiv. Det historiska och nutida perspektivet på feminism och jämställdhet utgör en väv sammanflätad av litteratur, språk och samhälleliga tankar och idéer. Syftet med den här studien var därför att synliggöra svensklärares metoder för att arbeta med feministiska perspektiv i undervisningen, eftersom att svenskämnet är ett ämne som sägs vila på två ben: språk och litteratur. Forskningsfrågorna som ämnades besvaras var 1. hur arbetar svensklärare med att synliggöra feministiska perspektiv i undervisningen i relation till ämnets innehåll? och 2. vilka metoder använder svensklärare för att tackla eventuell problematik som kan uppkomma när man undervisar känsliga ämnen så som feminism eller jämställdhet?

Metoden som användes för att få svar på frågorna var kvaletativa semistrukturerade intervjuer. Fyra lärare som arbetar på olika skolor i norbotten intervjuades. Lärarna var i olika åldrar och de intervjuade bestod av två män och två kvinnor. Studien har en fenomenologisk ansats. 

Resultatet från studien visar att samtliga lärare arbetar med feministiska perspektiv i all sin undervisning i olika grader. Högst genomslag får feministiska perspektiv eller skolans jämställdhetsarbete i relation till litteratur, men även i andra delar av undervsiningen synliggörs perspektiven. 

Syftet med studien var att genom en fallstudie få kunskap om hur genus konstrueras genom en manlig och en kvinnlig förskollärares verbala kommunikation med pojkar och flickor. Studien svarar även på vilka skillnader det finns i kommunikationen och hur förskollärarna själv beskriver kommunikationen med pojkar och flickor. Ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv har varit utgångspunkt för studien. Insamling av data gjordes genom att observera matsituationer, fri lek och samling samt genom intervjuer med en manlig och en kvinnlig förskollärare. Resultatet av studien visar att det finns både likheter och skillnader i hur manliga och kvinnliga förskollärare kommunicerar med pojkar och flickor. Resultatet visar även att förskollärarna är medvetna om att de kan kommunicera med pojkar och flickor på olika sätt, men de framhåller att kommunikationen utgår från individen och vilken relation de har till barnen.

Studies conducted over the past sixty years have reported stereotypical gender representation in school materials. Initiatives to counteract sexism have led to improvements, and the most overt gender-biased examples are less visible today.  Despite this, studies still report gender imbalances. Since language has an enormous impact on how normative perceptions are created, increased knowledge about how we communicate and create knowledge about gender is needed. This study focuses on gender in EFL textbooks used in Swedish primary school. To reveal patterns of representation, a corpus was constructed and tagged to enable searches. The study reveals both equal and unequal representations. Equal patterns are shown in the numerical representation of proper names, and in verbs and adjectives collocating with females and males. However, animals and fantastic characters identified as either male or female in the books show traditional gender representations, with male characters not only occurring more frequently than equivalent female characters but also being represented as more active and innovative. The pronoun he is also considerably more common than she in the material.

Syftet med denna studie är att ur ett genusperspektiv beskriva och analysera förskolläraresuppfattningar om hur barn hanterar konflikter. Utöver genusperspektivet belyses konflikteroch konflikthantering även ur ett sociokulturellt perspektiv samt ett posthumanistisktperspektiv. Metoden var kvalitativ och det utfördes sex intervjuer med sex förskollärare frånfyra olika verksamheter. Resultatet visar att det fortfarande råder föreställningar somupprätthåller de traditionella könsrollerna gällande konflikthantering men även attkommunikationen och språket är avgörande faktorer för konflikthantering. Ett överraskanderesultat var att ingen av förskollärarna tog upp miljöns betydelse relaterat till konflikter samtkonflikthantering. Slutligen framkom det att en del av de deltagande förskollärarna upplevdeen svårighet med konflikthantering relaterat till nyanlända barn. Min förhoppning är att dennastudie ska leda till reflektion för personal i förskolan om att ständigt vara medveten om ensegna normer och värderingar.

This paper argues for recognition of the constitutive role of context in shaping the dynamics of the policy‐practice interface in the field of gender equality in universities. Using a comparative and reflective case‐study approach, we draw on our experiences, as action‐researchers, of developing and implementing Gender Equality Action Plans (GEAPs) in four universities in four different European countries and we explore the role of national and local context in the mediation and translation of the GEAP model. Drawing on the concepts of gendered organisations, dialogic organisational change and policy mobilities, we argue for the need to be critical of approaches to gender equality in higher education (HE) that presume policy measures and good practice models transfer unproblematically to different HE organisations in different international contexts; instead, we draw attention to the contingent ways in which uneven gender relations articulate and manifest in different contexts, shaping possibilities for, and obstacles to, gender equality intervention. Thus, we argue that context plays a crucial constitutive role in the interpretation, enactment and impact of gender equality policy in HE.

Literature has great potential to provide readers with insights into intersectional diversity. Alternatively, literature may reproduce stereotypes, or be patronising. Therefore, reading pivotal to promote counter storytelling for recognition and knowledge.

The aim of this study is to investigate how themes of diversity have been brought to the fore by Sami writers in two works of fiction for young readers, and how these novels potentially highlight and call into question societal norms on diversity. The books are Köttjuven – I lávvo på Djurgården (2008) by Lotta Willborg Stoor and Ville Söderbaum and Himlabrand (2021) by Moa Backe Åstot. The main characters in both novels are young Sami, and in both novels LGBTIQ+ themes are central. Theories on intersectionality and identity (cf. Crenshaw, 1991; Hill Collins, 1998; Lykke, 2003, 2005: Åhrén, 2008) provides an analytical framework for categories like ethnicity (Sami – non-Sami), sexuality (heteronormativity – LGBTIQ+), gender (binary or non-binary), location (Sápmi – capital), and age (acceptance – need to fit in).

Preliminary results show that the novels for young readers call into question the binary opposition in norms restricting diversity by pushing for a flexibility. By allowing for a discussion on sexuality, gender, location, age, where diversity can be seen as fluid, the novels can problematise the not so fluid category of ethnicity, and in the fictional world, normalise destabilisation of categories, and the shift in the perception of Saminess.

Background: When large numbers of asylum seekers immigrate to a country, civil society is encouraged to contribute to their integration. A subgroup of asylum seekers comprising lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) refugees are specifically deemed vulnerable to developing health and integration problems due to the double stigma of being a sexual/gender minority and a refugee. The Swedish Federation for LGBTQ Rights (RFSL) is a civil societal organization that has established the support group “RFSL Newcomers,” a health-related integration intervention that targets such refugees. The aim of the present study is reconstructing the subjective understanding of health of LGBTQ refugees.

Methods: Eleven participants in Newcomers and eight organizers were interviewed about LGBTQ refugees’ experiences of migrating and participating in RFSL Newcomers. Qualitative content analysis was used to reconstruct subjective understandings of health that were constructed in these narratives. As the data did not originally concentrate on exploring understandings of health, a broad theoretical approach was used as a heuristic for the analysis, which focused on the common everyday approach of conceptualizing health as wellbeing.

Results: The narratives revealed three interconnected, interdependent categories of understanding health in which tensions occur between wellbeing and ill-being: belonging versus alienation, security and safety versus insecurity, and recognition versus denial. The categories contribute to an overarching theme of health as framed freedom – i.e., freedom framed by conditions of society.

Conclusions: For our participants, belonging, recognition, and security/safety are conceptual elements of understanding health, not its social determinants. Thus, these understandings emphasize relational and existential meanings of health (theoretical implication). As for practical implications, the understandings of health were connected to being either inside or outside the Newcomers group and a new society, depending on whether LGBTQ refugees comply with social requirements. As a significant actor that is representative of the cultural majority and a facilitator of LGBTQ refugees’ resettlement process, RFSL provides LGBTQ refugees with crucial orientations for becoming a “good migrant” and a “good LGBTQ person,” yet a “bad bio-citizen.” Generally, organizers of interventions may enhance the effectiveness of their interventions when relational, existential, and biomedical understandings of health are all incorporated.

In this article, disability and its interplay with gender in the Sultanate of Oman are explored. Previous research on this issue in Oman has been conducted adopting a medical model. Consequently, the interrelations between the individual and wider society in relation to disability have only been marginally researched. This research, however, explores the interrelation of disability and gender and the co-construction of their meanings for students with visual disabilities. In comparison with other studies – particularly in the Arabian Gulf, where disability is often explored from the standpoint of caregivers, politicians, etc. – this research specifically strives to include disabled students’ views and social experiences. Moreover, the interplay between educational, religious, and cultural practices is analyzed. Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered at the only state-run school for students with visual disabilities in the capital area. The sample is balanced by gender and comprises 30 students aged 14–23, as well as one key religious figure and one representative of a non-governmental organization. The study shows that despite investments and awareness-raising campaigns, various forms of social practice exist that construct and reconstruct the meanings of disability and gender. Additionally, it is revealed that there is a political need to initiate a relational model of gender and disability to further improve the situation for students with disability in Oman.