This thesis investigates the ways in which women’s international migration from Armenia to Turkey is governed by the production and re-production of appropriate feminities and masculinities by macro-level state policies, legal texts and by everyday cultural discourses. Through an analysis of policy documents, legal texts and data collected through interviews with policy makers both in Armenia and Turkey, this thesis shows that gendered norms and rituals are implicated in how states regulate, intervene or simply ignore who are allowed or denied entry. Border regulations are affected and in return discipline the ideas and norms revolving around how the deserving feminine subjects of society should act and think.This thesis demonstrates that in focusing on a South-South migration from the perspective of gender challenges the dominant analysis of International Relations (IR) on migration, which has framed international migration mostly as a question of international security. In contrast, this thesis brings the rich political histories, social contexts and economic concerns – framed by gender, class and racial hierarchies – to bear on the flows of migrant women from Armenia to Turkey. This framework developed here has two important implications for how migration is studied in IR: one, it paints a much more complex picture of state-migrant interactions that goes beyond simplistic security/exclusion claims; and secondly, it allows for a multi-faceted conception of women’s agency. This thesis argues that migrant women develop several methods of managing their identities in order receive acceptance and legitimacy in the context of the gendered regulation of migration by Armenia and Turkey. They actively participate sometimes to challenge their characterization as “illegals”, as immoral mothers and women, and as useless workers. Their relationships with their families, employers, police officers and compatriots are carefully described and analyzed. The findings suggest that migrant women’s experiences are multifaceted and cannot be subsumed under a category of “irregular” migrant. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Swedish law tells us that employers and co-workers are responsible to encourage gender equality work in order to make equal opportunities for both women and men in the Swedish work force. Different organizations have different conditions to change and the gender equality work is an example of a work of change. Previous research shows that gender equality work come across opposition in several ways. The aim of this study is to explain how departmental managers in care units work with gender equality and furthermore how the organization gives them conditions to do so. The question I aim to answer is: How is the departmental managers gender equality work influenced by the organizations particular conditions? To fulfil the aim of the study and answer the question I used a qualitative approach. Four departmental managers in care units were interviewed by means of semi- structured interviews. The material was processed with a thematic approach. I searched for common themes in the interviews and interpreted it with the assistance of select theory. The theories were Göran Ahrnes and Apostolis Papakostas organization theory about mechanisms of rigidity and Yvonne Hirdmans concept gender system. The results of the study show that written gender equality documents make mechanisms of rigidity and contribute to an inability to change. The organizations give the departmental managers capacity to diminish the need of gender equality work by means of shifting in time, category and responsibility. The analysis gives an explanation of the conditions with the assistance of the gender systems involvement in the organizations structure and culture. The conclusion means that the gender system makes the gender-differentiated organization inartificial, and therefore affects the conditions of the departmental managers gender equality work.

The number of women farmers in the US continues to grow even at a time when the number of men farmers is decreasing. But even as women are experiencing growing representation in this historically men-dominated occupation, they are more likely to operate smaller farm operations, own less land, and earn less than men farmers. Additionally, there are barriers to accessing the full farmer identity due to their invisibility in the largely patriarchal structure of agriculture. In this dissertation, I endeavor to learn more about how women farmers navigate the gendered structure of farming, including barriers to accessing occupation-related resources and their farmer identity, and how women farmers are “doing” or “undoing” gender. Utilizing in-depth qualitative interviews, I interviewed 32 women farmers from 11 states and the country of Italy. I find that three main gendered structural barriers were experienced by the women farmers in this study, including access to capital-related resources, learning how to farm, and the women’s perception of conventional agriculture as a masculine occupation. I contributed to the growing “doing and undoing gender” literature by showing that the women in this study were actively engaged in interactions within and outside of their occupation that both conformed to and resisted traditional gendered expectations, demonstrating that doing and undoing gender is contextual and more of a spectrum than mutually exclusive categories of either/or. I also contributed to the “doing difference” literature by including women farmers of color, whose perspectives have been absent from previous research of women farmers. Their narratives included examples of discrimination and unequal treatment due to their race and gender, demonstrating a clear need for an intersectional analysis of women farmers. I conclude with a discussion of these implications and make policy recommendations based on knowledge gained from this research and offer suggestions for future research.

Mentorship is a critical component of a graduate education and facilitates the process of socialization into the role of professorship. Numerous studies continue to support the idea that mentorship, particularly woman-to-woman mentoring, is essential for overcoming barriers to women’s mobility within male-dominated fields. This study critically examines this assumption through the analysis of 59 qualitative interviews with faculty mentors and graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics conducted at one Canadian and one American institution. Initially, I explore how mothers in academe are socialized from differing levels to fit into narrowly defined roles as “good” professors. This expands our conceptualization of a motherhood penalty to include more subtle discrimination and illuminates the complexity within which motherhood is embedded in work organizations and reproduced through interaction (including mentorship). By following a comparison of the relational dynamics of women graduate students in same-gender and cross-gender iv mentorships, the overwhelming conclusion is that both men and women as faculty mentors are capable of socializing their students in ways that have potential to transform the academic institution regarding gender equity. Still, many examples of how mentoring alternately functions to perpetuate inequities exist. Finally, a crossnational analysis allowed exploration of institutional contexts and how they influence the ways in which mentors model balance. In contexts where family leave is institutionalized (i.e. Canada), conflict between work and family life should be lessened. Given this assumption, we should see a distinct separation of experiences between Canadian and American academics. In reality, these boundaries are more blurred. This finding implies that despite differences in levels of support formally offered to families through policy initiatives, professional barriers experienced by academics prevent the type of substantive benefits they are meant to afford. In practice, faculty mentors remain wedded to ideal worker models rooted in the masculine work ethics of their professions regardless of institutionalized family policies, thereby perpetuating inequality through mentorship. This, in turn, prevents institutional change. In summary, this study contributes to theoretical models of gendered institutions; advances understanding of the tenacity of gender inequality in academia; and informs university policies related to mentoring practices and workfamily policies.

This study examines the experiences of women who work in the meat industry. Drawing from symbolic interaction and standpoint theory frameworks, this research focuses on how gender, race, and nationality influence work experiences and family life for women in comparison to men in the meat industry. This study is based on 15 in-depth interviews with men and women who work in management positions and in the processing rooms of meat companies where non-human animals are disassembled in the production of food. Data collection and analysis were performed using grounded theory methods of inquiry. Participants' stories highlight women's experience in adapting to the organizational culture of the meat industry, strategies of survival in everyday life in the organization, and the conflict between work and family. While women in management positions discuss the process of fitting into the male-dominated organizational culture, women in the processing room experience gender segregation and inequality that prevents moving into the men's world of processing management, a separation that is built into the structure of the facility. This study contributes to the literature on work in the meat industry as well as the sociological research on gender and work, race and ethnicity studies and research on the family.

Yes / Changes globally mean that there are now record numbers of mothers in paid employment and a reported prevalence of involved fathering. This poses challenges to mothers and fathers as they negotiate care-work practices within their relationships. Focusing on interviews with three heterosexual couples (taken from a wider UK qualitative project on working parents), the paper considers care-work negotiations of three couples, against a backdrop of debates about intensive mothering and involved fathering. It aims to consider different configurations of work and care within three different couple relationships. We found that power within the relationships was negotiated along differential axis of gender and working status (full or part time paid work) . We present qualitatively rich insights into these negotiations. Framed by a critical discursive psychological approach, we call on other researchers to think critically about dominant discourses and practices of working, caring and parenting, pointedly how couples situated around the world operationalise these discourses in talking about themselves as worker and carers.

<p>The purpose of this essay is to investigate and analyze how widely and intensive gender</p><p>equality issues are considered within Swedish companies. Qualitative interviews were</p><p>arranged with personnel managers within each company, and complemented with a</p><p>questionnaire amongst the employees. The collected information was analysed on the basis of</p><p>gender theory, organization and change theory, theory of equal opportunities and historical</p><p>statistics. The outcome of the analysis indicates that companies find gender equality of high</p><p>interest, and important to address within the daily work. However the analysis also shows that</p><p>even though the companies find gender equality important it is only adopted within few areas,</p><p>and not across all departments. Much of the work done on gender equality is done</p><p>unconsciously by the company. They do not reflect on why they need to work with gender</p><p>equality issues. The companies are unaware of and have not reflected over the majority of the</p><p>intense work within gender equality.</p> / <p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur brett och intensivt tre privata företag i Sverige bedriver jämställdhetsarbete. För att närma oss undersökningsområdet genomförde vi en djupintervju med ansvarig chef på varje företag samt delade ut en enkät till de anställda. Vi analyserade det insamlade materialet med hjälp av genusteori, organisations- och förändringsteori, teorier kring jämställdhetsarbete och med hjälp av statistik från tidigare forskning. Det resultatet visar på i studien är att alla företagen anser att jämställdhet är viktigt och det är viktigt att arbeta med jämställdhet. Företagen arbetar intensivt med jämställdhet inom några få områden men de saknar en bredd i jämställdhetsarbetet. Mycket av det intensiva arbete som bedrivs är idag omedvetet och företagen reflekterar inte över varför ett jämställdhetsarbete ska bedrivas.</p>

The purpose of this essay is to investigate and analyze how widely and intensive gender equality issues are considered within Swedish companies. Qualitative interviews were arranged with personnel managers within each company, and complemented with a questionnaire amongst the employees. The collected information was analysed on the basis of gender theory, organization and change theory, theory of equal opportunities and historical statistics. The outcome of the analysis indicates that companies find gender equality of high interest, and important to address within the daily work. However the analysis also shows that even though the companies find gender equality important it is only adopted within few areas, and not across all departments. Much of the work done on gender equality is done unconsciously by the company. They do not reflect on why they need to work with gender equality issues. The companies are unaware of and have not reflected over the majority of the intense work within gender equality. / Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur brett och intensivt tre privata företag i Sverige bedriver jämställdhetsarbete. För att närma oss undersökningsområdet genomförde vi en djupintervju med ansvarig chef på varje företag samt delade ut en enkät till de anställda. Vi analyserade det insamlade materialet med hjälp av genusteori, organisations- och förändringsteori, teorier kring jämställdhetsarbete och med hjälp av statistik från tidigare forskning. Det resultatet visar på i studien är att alla företagen anser att jämställdhet är viktigt och det är viktigt att arbeta med jämställdhet. Företagen arbetar intensivt med jämställdhet inom några få områden men de saknar en bredd i jämställdhetsarbetet. Mycket av det intensiva arbete som bedrivs är idag omedvetet och företagen reflekterar inte över varför ett jämställdhetsarbete ska bedrivas.

Since the industrialization, the role of breadwinning has been part of the male gender identity. Even though it today has become more common with female breadwinners, the previous assumption of the man as a breadwinner is still a norm in society. This study examines what this norm breaking means for women and their relationships with their men. The purpose is to study Swedish women's experiences of being a breadwinner, how it affects the relationship and the roles one has in a relationship. Previous research has mainly been focused on objective financial aspects of female breadwinning but there is a lack of women's subjective experiences. This study is based on qualitative interviews with seven Swedish female breadwinners. The study shows that education is fundamental to explaining their role as female breadwinner. It also shows that the women's personal traits and good relationships with their men explains their experiences of being a female breadwinner. / Rollen som familjeförsörjare har sedan industrialiseringen varit en del av den manliga könsidentiteten. Trots att det idag blivit vanligare med kvinnliga familjeförsörjare, är den tidigare föreställningen om mannen som försörjare fortsatt en norm i samhället. I denna studie undersöks vad denna normbrytning betyder för kvinnorna och deras relationer till sina män. Syftet är att studera svenska kvinnors upplevelser av att vara familjeförsörjare, hur det påverkar relationen och de roller man har i en relation. Tidigare forskning har i hög grad fokuserat på objektiva finansiella aspekter av kvinnlig familjeförsörjning där det finns en avsaknad av kvinnors subjektiva upplevelser. Den här studien är baserad på kvalitativa intervjuer med sju svenska kvinnliga familjeförsörjare. Studien visar att utbildning är grundläggande för att förklara deras roll som familjeförsörjare. Studien visar också att kvinnornas personliga egenskaper och goda relationer till sina män förklarar deras upplevelser av att vara familjeförsörjare.

The purpose of our essay is to investigate how preschool teachers take gender into account in the design of the physical environment at their preschool. We will examine this based on the following issues: How do preschool teachers use gender-coded material and how do they design an environment that is inviting both girls and boys? We also want to find out if the preschool teachers believe that the design of the room affects the creation of children's gender identity. Therefore, we have chosen to apply a qualitative method as it allows us to get closer to the subject area we want to investigate. The study has been demarcated, and consequently we have only studied three preschools in Stockholm. To gather our empirical material, we have chosen to interview five preschool teachers. We have also observed the physical indoor environment at three preschools. The result of our empirical material shows that all three preschools use gender-coded material. They also separated the material in defined areas. Based on the interview answers, we could see that preschool teachers work on gender equality and gender issues in different ways. We conclude that preschool teachers experience difficulties in carrying out gender equality work. Based on the research carried out by the Delegation for Gender Equality at Preschool, they address the difficulties that educators often face, as they look after the children's individual needs and ignore their gender. It can lead to gender blindness, and it counteracts successful gender equality work.