The purpose of this study is to examine how genders are made within the gender neutral discourse in the preschools equality treatment area. The study is based on critcal literature studies influed by discourse analysis and hermeneuitcs. It also relies on intervjues with two preschool teachers.  The study will examine and answer the following questions: How are genders made within the gender neutral discourse? How is the feminine and masculine problematized in preschool and how is the discourse within gender neutrality linked to norms, power and gender? The theoretical starting point of this study is gender. This starting point also includes norms, power and masculinity, to get a complete understanding of the problem area. The result of the study shows that the ambition to develope a gender natural policy in pre school is a problematic issue because the understanding of the concept neutrality excludes the feminine. Finally with critical eyes against the gender neutral concept my interpretation is that we need to concider the norms to be able to reach equal treatment and gender equality. These unwritten laws that norms produce creates  unbalance, power structure and exclusion between genders and individuals.     Keywords: Gender, Norm criticism, equal treatment, gender equality, gender neutrality. Nyckelord: Genus, normkritik, likabehandling, jämställdhetsarbete och könsneutralitet.

Abstract Making individuals feel safe in public space is an increasingly relevant issue in planning the city's public space. However, fear is not easy to explain or counteract as this is something that is highly subjective. Many urban planning projects are being carried out today focusing on creating safe and equal environments. Such a project is Frizon in Umeå municipality, which is a meeting place based on young girls' experience of security and gender equality.This study tries to create an understanding of how planners can work with girls' safety in the public space, as well as create an understanding of how places that are planned based on security and gender equality can be perceived.The study has been conducted through interviews, surveys and observations, in which young girls experience the city of Umeå and the meeting place Frizon has been the focus.The result shows that the city is primarily a place to hang out with friends and the places most used by the girls in the city are the central parts for shopping and food, but also some of the city's parks.Many of the girls who participated in the study feel insecure sometimes when in the city, but this is something that occurs mainly when they are alone. Hanging out with their friends is not just something they do for socializing, but this is also something that gives them a sense of security. The result also shows that Frizon is an appreciated place by many girls, but that the site partially feels somewhat unavailable during certain times of the day and year.

Background: Worldwide, gender inequality has existed for a long time due to culture, religion and patriarchal structures, sometimes maintained by law. As a result, millions of girls lose their right to schooling, and it is affecting the development of entire nations. Uganda one the other hand, has for the past decade had many girls accessing school and hence, an increase in the quantitative perspective of gender equality. This is a result of efforts and different projects to bring girls to school mobilised by many organizations, together with the government. Uganda implemented free universal primary education over 20 years ago, and was the first of all nations in Sub-Saharan Africa to apply free universal secondary education in 2007. However, do these structural changes contribute to a development in the qualitative perspective of gender equality in Uganda? Have this led to changed perceptions in the rural households regarding education for their girls and boys respectively? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to understand the development of gender equality in Uganda focusing on school attendance. This will be identified through listening to the perceptions of rural households towards sending their girls and boys to primary school. The result intends to contribute to a greater understanding of the qualitative development of gender equality in Uganda, in line with the Sustainable Development Goal number 5 implemented by the United Nations. Research question: What are the perceptions of rural households in Uganda towards sending their girls and boys respectively to primary school? Method: A qualitative method through 18 interviews, one focus group discussion and discussions with 22 children in a rural area. The village Lukonko in Eastern Uganda was chosen based on a convenience selection and since the number of girls attending school has grown rapidly in this area. Conclusion: Girls’ access to primary school was more valued than boys’ access which constitutes reversed gender inequality. The main reason was that girls provide more future support to the household. Yet, many of the reasons for sending girls to primary school were rooted in issues of gender inequality. The qualitative development of gender equality has progressed in terms of the value of the girls’ education, but not regarding the underlying societal issues of gender inequality.

Gender equality is one of the most topical issues of all. Many researchers around the world are addressing the issue of equal opportunities in the labour market and are looking for ways to ensure this in all sectors of the economy. This paper addresses this issue and aims to gain a deep understanding of the influence of a national culture on the implementation of gender equality policies within companies. With the help of a qualitative research method, the various factors of culture were examined and their relationship to the gender-specific understanding of a society analysed. The findings show the effects on companies operating in Switzerland and combine the experience of case companies with the literature already available. In order to test and further explore this combination, the authors of the thesis opted for an abductive research approach to repeatedly expand understanding with new literature and develop a more relevant comprehension of the influence of culture. The entire literature research finally created a framework that shows the links between the various theories and provides a clear overview of the background. With the help of selected case companies, important insights could be gained and with this empirical data, a detailed analysis for a better understanding of the influence of cultures on the implementation of gender equality policies could be achieved. These findings, combined with the existing theory and theoretical synthesis, provide a clear analysis and finally provide the reader with an insight into the implications, recommendations and limitations as well as suggestions for further research. Culture has a major influence on the implementation of gender equality policies. This paper shows how the various companies in Switzerland approach this influence and how Swedish companies with business operations in Switzerland in particular are pushing ahead with the implementation of policies for equality between women and men. This can give companies in Switzerland an indication of how they have to deal with cultural conditions within a country and how they can make optimum use of these for their human resource management.

The aim of this study is to examine how female refugees in Sweden experience that their escape and arrival to Sweden have formed their lives and wellbeing. The study seeks to understand how several women live their lives in relation to equality, discrimination and justice within the Swedish territorial borders. This is done with the Capability Approach by Martha C Nussbaum where she uses a list of universal values that should be central to women in every country, as a method of comparing how fair women live. I chose to interview six women who have fled to Sweden as refugees during the past 10 years, in order to see if the Capability Approach applies to them. I have also used Nancy Frasers theory of the scales of justice in my thesis. Fraser mentions three-dimensional politics where the inclusion of redistribution, recognition and representation should be achieved to create justice for women. The result showed that the women lack central capabilities such as the right to not being discriminated based on their ethnicity or religion, and the right to experience emotional development that is not bothered by traumatic experiences or unhealthy relationships. Furthermore, these women do not have the right to participate in political decisions that affect and shape their lives. The result in relation to Fraser’s theory indicates that these women have a limited freedom in Sweden. According to Fraser, there has to be an integration of a redistribution of resources, recognition, and a representation in Swedish politics, which benefit female refugees.

This quantitative study aims to investigate mechanisms for female empowerment in the context of conflict by examining whether a female entry into armed rebel, insurgent and terrorist movements can lead to an increase of women represented in politics. Three different hypotheses for the relationship are set: that the effect is positive, that the effect is negative and that there is no effect at all. The study argues that one possible mechanism for the relationship is that female rebels become role models for other women when entering the male dominated domain of a rebel movement. These women disrupt and question existing gender hierarchies and ideas of what it means to be a woman. By expanding the idea of what women are capable of doing, these women could inspire other women to enter other male dominated spheres, such as decision-making domains in politics, and hence gain political power. The method for examining this possible mechanism is OLS linear regression between the dependent variable women in parliament and the independent variable women in rebel movements. The result found is that there is a significant positive effect, meaning that the prevalence of women in rebel movements do actually affect the prevalence of women in politics in post- or present- conflict countries around the world. The conclusion is therefore that, at least in militarized societies, women as a group can become empowered when some women enter male dominated spheres as this believably unties the traditional idea of the capabilities of women.

Gender equality has increased over time, and the question of how it progresses is highly important. Commuting behavior is an essential theme in Economic research since it, for example, affects the market structure, the distribution of labor, and economic growth. The purpose is to investigate how human capital impacts individuals’ commuting to work, and especially if human capital has different effects on women and men. To construct our model, we present several factors of interest that affect commuting, where human capital is the main variable investigated. Previous research show that women’s commuting behavior differs from men’s. By analyzing data from 2016, we aim to study the difference between women and men, by investigating the factors that impact their commuting for work over municipality borders in Sweden. The contribution of this paper is to increase the understanding of commuting within regional economics and gender studies. Our result show that human capital affects net outgoing commuting for both women and men, but the extent of the effect differs. Women are less affected by the level of human capital, and they still commute less than men although more women obtain higher human capital, in terms of education.

This diploma work deals with gender and gender stereotypes in the media, in particular in television advertisements. The thesis is written in German and is conceived as theoretical and empirical. The core of this diploma work is both centered around language and content analysis of the TV commercials in Czech and German language. An important part of this work is a cd, which contains all of the analyzed commercials. The aim of this thesis is to find out in which roles women and men are presented in the commercials. On the basis of the analyzed TV commercials it will be determined whether the gender stereotypes in commercials are strengthened or whether the TV commercials are gender-correct.

Background: Since its beginning, sports have been defined by men for men, but nowadays women are welcome in to the sport-sphere. Women in sports are first and foremost active themselves and not as officials or volunteers of any kind, an area dominated by men. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how girls who are football referees experience the environment of their officialdom, both at ordinary games and in an educational environment at courses. Literature: The theories supporting this study are Hirdmans gender contract (2003) and Butlers heterosexual matrix (2007). Method: To conduct this study, a qualitative method of semi-structured interviews has been used. Six girls who have gone through the course at the tournament Sverigecupen and are or have been active as referees the latest years participated in the study. Result: The analysis of the interviews showed that the respondents didn’t take damage by the rough climate girls who are referees meet in their profession. Although they still thought that courses for girls only could be good for younger referees. Difficulties at the girls’ ordinary games outside of tournaments were also mentioned. Discussion: Altogether the girls thought that a girls only-course would be a good complement to the courses of today, and that a lot can be done by initiating role modeling in the daily occupation of female referees.

The inclusion of gender equality in the guiding principles of peacebuilding operations led by the United Nations raises questions of effectivity. Indeed, while the commitment of the international community to gender equality is well defined and the importance of gender equality for durable peace has been widely demonstrated, there is no consistent research on the effects of the interventions of peacebuilding actors on dimensions of gender equality. The question leading this paper is “what is the effect of peacebuilding actors’ interventions on gender equality?” and this paper particularly seeks to research whether the influence of peacebuilding actors on power structures, that define unjust gendered relations of power, could improve gender equality overall. The theoretical underpinning of this paper identifies women’s political empowerment as a change in power structures with possible positive consequences. The theory is tested in a qualitative way with a comparison between case studies and through the method of Structured Focused Comparison. The results show partial support for the hypothesis. Indeed, the empirical assessment of Liberia and Rwanda seems to point to an increase in the international support of local women’s organisation as a successful strategy to challenge power structures and, consequently, gender inequality.