This study examines the fight for equal rights by the female school teachers during the 1930s. The purpose of the study has been to analyze the strategy and arguments that the female teachers used and how they argued for the objective of equal rights. Their arguments were published in the female union newspaper, Lärarinneförbundet, and through the critical discourse analysis the questions, considering equal rights, have been selected and catego-rized. Prior research has been used to discuss and analyze the arguments. The female teacher’s counterpart were the male teachers, which had a higher position in the society through a higher pay and positions in the workforce. The arguments and strategies between the two unions will be analyzed through Hirdman’s theory about the gender contract and gender system. The main arguments in the conflict between the unions where about equal pay, married teachers right to work, upbringing and the capability of the genders. Both female and male teachers used different arguments which were established in their strategies. By analyzing the arguments with Hirdman’s gender system the strategies would appear. The male teacher’s strategy was to protect and maintain their superior status and position in the soci-ety. This was carried out by not allowing the female teachers the same rights and argue that they were less capable to work as teachers, because they were not as physical and mentally capable as the male teachers. The female teacher’s strategy was to achieve equal rights in society through minimizing the gender differences and reduce the male dominance. The female teachers emphasized the equality between the genders, instead of the differences, which the male teachers focused on. Though the strategies the female teachers tried to over-throw and break the gender contract and by that create a more equal society.

The objective of this essay is to investigate how attitudes towards equality between men and women affect the gender wage gap. The essay studies how positive and negative attitudes on gender equality affects the gender income gap. This study investigates this by using data of the mean yearly incomes from 290 municipalities in Sweden during the years 2000-2008. Additionally, using a survey conducted by the SOM-institute at the Gothenburg university to measure attitudes towards gender equality. The results indicate that positive attitudes towards gender equality had a decreasing effect on the gender wage gap. A conclusion from this essay is that a more egalitarian attitude contributes to a decrease in the existing gender wage gap.

A reoccurring argument in previous research is that autocracies implement policy changes for women’s rights in order to gain international legitimacy. The idea is that by showing the international community that they are on-board with the global movement to empower women; focus is diverted they from their shortcomings in other democratic aspects. What is left out of the discussion though, is how such legitimization take shape. With help of qualitative content analysis, this thesis aims to investigate whether Nicaragua, an increasingly autocratic state which has implemented policy changes to improve women’s rights and gender equality, has gained international legitimacy in the reports of two different watch dog organizations, Amnesty International and Freedom House, and simultaneously received less criticism for their flaws as a state. The results of the analysis are not straightforward but provides two key findings that suggests that the theory cannot be completely dismissed. The first one is that, by comparing the reports by Freedom House, less criticism is detected simultaneously as the two policy changes are referred to more often in year 2012 compared to year 2011 which supports the theory. The second finding is that the amendments of Comprehensive Violence against Women Law in 2013 is referred to rather differently between Amnesty International and Freedom House, which brings more complexity to this issue. Thus, future research on the subject with similar methodology should analyze data from more than two organizations in order to understand if any view is more common than the other.

Based on previous research about gender equality in transport planning there are some obvious inequalities between the two genders. To start with, women's and men's travel patterns are different, the difference occurs in the causes of these travel patterns. For example men´s travel pattern show that they travel mostly from home to work, while women take different trips between home, work, shop and in behalf of others, such as taking children to school. The difference also occurs in with regards to usage of different transport modes and other categories presented in this research. The purpose of this thesis has been to explore why such differences occur and how gender equality is integrated in transport planning in Estonia. In order to study how gender equality in transport planning is managed, a study based on qualitative methods transport agencies experiences with regards to gender equality was carried out. Furthermore, the study was based on literature reviews and interviews. The results show that there is little expertise within this topic in Estonia and even while the topic is known, it is not integrated into transport planning. The results also indicate several challenges such as traditional and stereotypical attitudes towards gender roles in the Estonian society. The conclusion is that there are several underlying problems. It is clear that the respondents have the knowledge about the topic, however not with regards to the transport planning sector. The reasons according to transport planners are that gender equality in transport planning sector is not prioritised. Furthermore, the study could show a resistance in getting information for the research topic which demonstrates how unfamiliar this topic is among those in transport planning sector today. The challenges such as lack of knowledge and lack of expertise are some of the obstacles that needs to be dealt with before gender equality could be successfully implemented and integrated into transport planning in Estonia. / <p>2019-06-07</p>

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The year 1994 has important historical meaning for South African citizens. The 1994 election marked the beginning of a new nation and a time of freedom and democracy. As part of the change to a democratic society, the rights to gender equality and women's rights were incorporated in the development of the new constitution. However, although our constitution provides a clause on women's fundamental rights, women abuse is still a pervasive problem of enormous magnitude in South Africa. South Africa has a strongly entrenched patriarchal system, which makes men in terms of gender dominant and women subordinate.

The purpose of the study is to investigate how teachers can work to promote and support thegender equality mission in their teaching practice. To be able to investigate this, two questionswere addressed: the first question is how teachers describe their work to promote genderequality in the classroom, and the second question is how can teachers' different ways ofworking with gender equality be understood? The research in the chosen area claims thatsociety's norms about how boys and girls should be characterize the classroom environmentand have a great impact on students' learning. As a result, teachers may unknowingly havedifferent expectations of boys 'and girls' performance in the classroom. To answer thesequestions, a qualitative study was conducted focusing on semi-structured interviews. Thestudy interviewed a total of 8 experienced licensed primary school teachers. The selection ofschools was that we had three schools in two cities, where both men and women wereinterviewed. The interviews show that all teachers have similar views on gender equality.They mentioned that gender equality is about everyone receiving an equal education and thatthe human gender should not prevent them from reaching their full potential. The resultsreport themes that have been developed through coding and categorization of the teachers'answers. The teachers described their work by explaining their methods and approaches togender equality work in the classroom. The teachers' way of working includes that they workin a democratic way of working, that they work with inclusion where an importantcontributing factor is "Drag the Stick" and to think about the placement of students.

In Benin, women in general and rural women in particular are central to the development and sustenance of the household, community, and society at large. Yet, often, they lack the agency, as a result of limited education, life skills, and resources, to contribute to community development, or the structures in place (laws, religious beliefs, policies, and institutions) limit women’s ability to participate in community development. As a result of their limited agency and the unequal structures in society, women in Benin have often been denied participation in decisions around education, health, economy, and agriculture. While women are key actors in all these sectors, they are often not represented sufficiently in the discussions that shape their lives. Women in Benin have collectively organized into associations to address these issues. Associations such as Mothers Associations (MAs) in Benin, have emerged with the specific purpose of improving the education of their daughters. MAs function under the umbrella of Parent Associations (PAs) to address issues of particular concern to girl students. While PAs have helped to improve basic education by putting pressure on school administrators and political leaders to address the quality of schools, these associations have been primarily male dominated, rarely identifying the specific barriers to education for girls. My dissertation has three main objectives: to assess how MAs in Benin have collectively mobilized to enhance the quality of education for schoolgirls; to determine whether MA activities and mobilization efforts have led to women’s empowerment and influence within their respective communities; and to examine whether MAs have had an impact on changing harmful social norms. Overall, the objective of this research is to examine how members of the MAs have used their collective agency to enhance gender equality within the school and community life. Through a critical feminist approach and applying a socio-ecological model, I examine the process in which African women have mobilized, collaborated, and advocated for girls’ education in ways that subtly undermine the harmful relations of power that govern their position in society.

"This study is predicated on a strong belief that the gender make-up of African parliamnets must relfect the gender demographics of African states. It is only when that is achieved that the concepts of equality, non-discrimination and democracy can gain their true meaning. As a departure point, the study makes a case that statistically women are under-represented across the overwhelming majority of African parliaments. The study asserts that the under-representation is prevalent amid the existence of international, regional and domestic instruments, all providing for women's right to representation in decision-making processes. Thus, the study demonstrates that there is a gap between de jure and de facto representation. The study then argues that the convoluted ideology of patriarchy, sacrosanct cultures, inviolable religions, the constructed public/private dichotomy, low levels of education, and the negative impact of globalisation all act in concert to deny African women their rightful place in decision-making institutions, particluarly parliaments. In a bid to investigate how this can be reserved, the study explores the Rwandan and South African models for purposes of gaining insights on how they have contrived to reach and surpass the critical mass of women in their parliaments. These two models demonstrate that a combination of temporary special measures and gender mainstreaming are effective tools for emancipating women and ensuring their representation in parliaments. These have to be buttressed by strong legal and institutioanl frameworks, which operate in a conducive socio-political environment." -- Abstract. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Ben Twinomugisha at the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC), Makerere University, Faculty of Law, Kampala, Uganda / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The purpose of this research is to identify how bridging the online gender divide can accelerate the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. At present 200 million fewer women are online than their male counterparts, highlighting the gender inequality that exists online. The disparity in the number of women online is having a detrimental effect on the ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations target date of 2030. The research first endeavours to understand the current discourse of what is understood by the term "digital gender divide" within contemporary literature. Drawing knowledge from existing literature, the reasons for the digital gender divide are critically assessed and conceptualised within an empirical framework before offering an insight into how such barriers can be addressed and overcome. The removal of such obstacles therefore paves the way for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to flourish. The evidence collated throughout the study details the intricate connection between sustainable development and gender equality, concluding that considerable advancements towards sustainable development can be made if more women are online.

The Swedish entrepreneurial environment is a heavily male-dominated field characterized by unequal conditions, a significant gender gap, and discriminatory practices. Research is filled with contradictory arguments discussing how gender is not an issue in the world of entrepreneurship, when in fact this conceals gender equality issues that are still prevalent today. This study aimed to describe and explain, from an incubator perspective, the challenges and opportunities that arise from working with gender equality in entrepreneurship. The purpose was also to study the effects these efforts have on the ventures partaking in the incubator’s program, as well as their perceptions of it. Based on a literature review of gender equality in entrepreneurship, a qualitative approach deemed necessary to explain the complexity of this issue. This research performed a case study on one Swedish incubator consisting of two samples. Data was collected through in-depth interviews held with the incubator team and online questionnaires were distributed to some ventures currently partaking in the incubator program, as well as to some alumni. The results indicated that there were more challenges than opportunities involved in working with gender equality in entrepreneurship. The most frequently addressed challenges for female entrepreneurs related to contexts of receiving financial aid from investors, the unequal opportunities given by supporting actors such as advisors, banks, lawyers etc., and the effect of gender stereotypes. In the analysis it was identified that women’s unequal opportunities consisted of, among others, women receiving different questions than men, having to defend their ideas to a larger extent, and consistently being viewed in a traditional manner concerning family-care constraints. However, many of the identified challenges for female entrepreneurs could be used in favor of the incubator. Meaning that the incubator could turn the challenges into opportunities for helping female entrepreneurs in their incubator program. For instance, the incubator can help reduce the barriers for entrepreneurs who want to pursue industries typically dominated by the opposite gender, this in turn would create a larger diversity across industries. The incubator had a positive influence on the ventures and their perceptions indicate that equal conditions are provided between the genders. The relationship was difficult to fully describe and explain as the incubator’s gender equality work was novel. Future research could investigate more in-depth the underlying reasons why gender inequality issues still pertain, but also more about what actions could be done to address the issues.