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.

<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.

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.

In today's schools, gender equality is a widely discussed topic among pedagogues. During our internship we had a differencing experience regarding the equality work done by each school. The aim of this study is to investigate how pedagogues teach gender equality in primary school and what difficulties that brings to the educational process. This was approached by gathering information from various papers published online in databases made available to us by Malmö University. We chose to restrict the search parameters to include mostly Swedish research as it’s mostly relevant for our line of work. The result shows research about how Swedish and some international schools work with gender equality. Most of the papers also include difficulties when teaching gender equality. The conclusion of the discussion is that pedagogues use different methods when teaching about the topic. For example value transmission, equality work is not included in regular teaching and to use books in gender equality work. Some difficulties have occurred. For example lack of competence, lack of time, a feeling that the assignment is difficult to interpret and that books contain the traditional gender roles, which complicates gender equality work. We have come up with how to further research the values.

This qualitative study has been focused on investigating and comparing the opportunities and obstacles for women to take on leadership positions in a male dominated industry. Despite the fact that women in leadership positions have increased over time, the fact remains that leading positions are male dominated which makes it harder for women to pursue careers on higher levels. The study’s theoretical framework consists of pedagogical theories about gender equality systems, male dominated organizations, homosociality and organizational culture . To make a foundation that includes a broad perspective to this work, both existing and previous female leaders were interviewed to draw attention to their experiences and in turn comparing similarities and differences between them. According to the purpose of this study, an analysis of  the relation between the ones that are staying and the possibilities that the company offers have also been carried out through this study. To make a difference and to continue to achieve improvement of equal conditions, the greatest development potential comes by identifying, questioning and analyzing the process of where the company is today, where they want to be followed by the possibilities to make it happen. This perspective was an aspect to achieve improvements to create a sustainable gender equality work over time. The result of the women first named experiences showed the same opportunities to reach leading positions regardless of gender and no perceived obstacles were named. Through a closer analysis , the women experienced obstacles in a more hidden form. The women also described that they have to make more effort than men in working life, which may indicate that there are difficulties for women in male-dominated organizations to be able to reach leadership positions.

<p>Utifrån ett genusvetenskapligt perspektiv undersöktes i uppsatsen vilka möjligheter och hinder som finns för jämställdhetsarbete på ett IT-företag. En enkätundersökning utifrån en bearbetning av ett enkätförslag från JämO kompletterades med kvalitativa intervjuer och relaterades till koncernens jämställdhetsplan och personalpolicy. Att organisationen bestod av tjänstemän och hade en platt organisationsstruktur var två faktorer som antogs prägla dess genuskontrakt, ett begrepp som hämtades från Hirdmans teoribildning. För att undersöka skillnaden mellan det samhälleliga jämställdhetsidealet och jämställdhet som praktik användes två teman, arbetsmiljö relaterat till genus och attityder till jämställdhet. Resultaten visade en organisation där jämställdhet var ett outtalat ideal, medan praktiskt jämställdhetsarbete saknades. Stort individuellt ansvar och hög grad av informell arbetsdelning var delar av de interna rutinerna. De främsta möjligheterna för aktivt jämställdhetsarbete var att det fanns kvinnor och män på alla nivåer och att individens kompetens värderades mycket högt. När det gällde hinder för jämställdhetsarbete var det för det första komplicerat för såväl chefer som medarbetare att över huvud taget definiera problem i termer av genus- och jämställdhetsfrågor. För det andra riskerade den som påtalade jämställdhetsproblem att mista viktiga kontakter och uppdrag. För det tredje fick medarbetarna själva på grund av den ständiga tidspressen och bristen på ledningsinitiativ i jämställdhetsfrågor hantera genusrelaterade problem individuellt, i mån av egen tid och kraft. Paradoxalt nog medförde anammandet av jämställdhetsidealet och företagets fokus på individens kompetens att genus inte tilläts bli en uttalad faktor som kunde påverka arbetsmiljön. På grund av det doldes ojämställdhet och därigenom även vikten av praktiskt jämställdhetsarbete.</p> / <p>In this essay, the opportunities and obstacles of gender equality work were examined from a gender theory perspective. A survey was used, based on a questionnaire from the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (JämO), which was complemented by qualititative interviews. The data was then analyzed in relation to the equal opportunities policy and staff policy of the corporation head quarters. The organization had a non-hierarchical structure and consisted of salaried employees, which was asumed to influence its gender contract – a concept derived from the theories of Hirdman. In order to examine the difference between the ideal of gender equality in the Swedish society and the gender equality in practice, two themes were used, the work environment in relation to gender and attitudes towards gender equality. The result showed an organization where gender equality was an unspoken ideal, while active work for it was lacking. In the company, a high degree of individual responsibility and an informal distribution of work were parts of the internal routines. The foremost opportunities for actively working for gender equality were the fact that both men and women were found at all levels of the company, and that individual competence was highly valued. Three obstacles were identified. Firstly, it was complicated for both managers and staff to define problems in terms of gender and gender equality issues. Secondly, those who called attention to problems risked losing important contacts and commissions. Thirdly, due to the constant time pressure and the lack of initiative from management in gender equality issues, the employees had to handle problems arising relating to gender on their own, depending on their own time and energy. Paradoxically, the adopting of the ideal of gender equality and the focus on individual competence prevented gender being seen as a factor that could affect the work environment. By that, inequalities relating to gender were hidden and thereby also the importance of active gender equality work.</p>

Syftet med studien är att undersöka upplevelsen av och arbetet med jämställdhet på ett mansdominerat företag, hur kvinnor i produktionen upplever jämställdhet och hur företaget arbetar med jämställdheten. För att kunna förverkliga syftet har vi gjort en undersökning på ett svenskt industriföretag med verksamhet i ett flertal länder. Inför vår studie har vi besökt en av deras arbetsplatser som kan ses som en klassiskt mansdominerad arbetsplats då de endast har 9,9 % anställda kvinnor. För att analysera studien har vi valt att utgå ifrån ett socialkonstruktivistiskt perspektiv och har därefter valt passande teorier om bland annat skapande av kön och könsmärkning av organisationer. Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär då det empiriska materialet samlades in genom elva intervjutillfällen med tio olika informanter. Sju av dem är kvinnor som arbetar inom produktionen och tre av dem representerar företagets jämställdhetsarbete. I resultatet beskriver vi hur företaget arbetar med jämställdhetsfrågor och hur kvinnorna upplever jämställdheten på arbetsplatsen. Vi kom fram till att kvinnorna tyckte om sin arbetsplats, men att de såg vissa förbättringsområden inom jämställdheten på arbetsplatsen. Därtill hade de flesta en önskan av ett mer transparent jämställdhetsarbete som omfattar alla i organisationen. / The purpose of the study is to investigate the experience of and the work with gender equality in a male dominated company, how women in production experience gender equality and how the company work with gender equality. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, we have conducted a survey in a Swedish industrial company with operations in several countries. We visited one of their workplaces which can be seen as a classic male dominated workplace since they only have 9.9% employed women. For the analysis of the study we have chosen to proceed from a social constructivist perspective and we have subsequently chosen suitable theories about, among other things, the creation of gender and gender labelling of organizations. The study is of a qualitative nature as the empirical material was collected through eleven interviews with ten different informants. Seven of them are women who work in production and three of them represent the company's gender equality work. In the result, we describe how the company work with gender issues and how women experience gender equality in the workplace. We found that the women liked their workplace, but they saw some areas of improvement in the field of gender equality at the workplace. In addition, most had a desire for a more transparent gender equality work that includes everyone in the organization.

Utifrån ett genusvetenskapligt perspektiv undersöktes i uppsatsen vilka möjligheter och hinder som finns för jämställdhetsarbete på ett IT-företag. En enkätundersökning utifrån en bearbetning av ett enkätförslag från JämO kompletterades med kvalitativa intervjuer och relaterades till koncernens jämställdhetsplan och personalpolicy. Att organisationen bestod av tjänstemän och hade en platt organisationsstruktur var två faktorer som antogs prägla dess genuskontrakt, ett begrepp som hämtades från Hirdmans teoribildning. För att undersöka skillnaden mellan det samhälleliga jämställdhetsidealet och jämställdhet som praktik användes två teman, arbetsmiljö relaterat till genus och attityder till jämställdhet. Resultaten visade en organisation där jämställdhet var ett outtalat ideal, medan praktiskt jämställdhetsarbete saknades. Stort individuellt ansvar och hög grad av informell arbetsdelning var delar av de interna rutinerna. De främsta möjligheterna för aktivt jämställdhetsarbete var att det fanns kvinnor och män på alla nivåer och att individens kompetens värderades mycket högt. När det gällde hinder för jämställdhetsarbete var det för det första komplicerat för såväl chefer som medarbetare att över huvud taget definiera problem i termer av genus- och jämställdhetsfrågor. För det andra riskerade den som påtalade jämställdhetsproblem att mista viktiga kontakter och uppdrag. För det tredje fick medarbetarna själva på grund av den ständiga tidspressen och bristen på ledningsinitiativ i jämställdhetsfrågor hantera genusrelaterade problem individuellt, i mån av egen tid och kraft. Paradoxalt nog medförde anammandet av jämställdhetsidealet och företagets fokus på individens kompetens att genus inte tilläts bli en uttalad faktor som kunde påverka arbetsmiljön. På grund av det doldes ojämställdhet och därigenom även vikten av praktiskt jämställdhetsarbete. / In this essay, the opportunities and obstacles of gender equality work were examined from a gender theory perspective. A survey was used, based on a questionnaire from the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (JämO), which was complemented by qualititative interviews. The data was then analyzed in relation to the equal opportunities policy and staff policy of the corporation head quarters. The organization had a non-hierarchical structure and consisted of salaried employees, which was asumed to influence its gender contract – a concept derived from the theories of Hirdman. In order to examine the difference between the ideal of gender equality in the Swedish society and the gender equality in practice, two themes were used, the work environment in relation to gender and attitudes towards gender equality. The result showed an organization where gender equality was an unspoken ideal, while active work for it was lacking. In the company, a high degree of individual responsibility and an informal distribution of work were parts of the internal routines. The foremost opportunities for actively working for gender equality were the fact that both men and women were found at all levels of the company, and that individual competence was highly valued. Three obstacles were identified. Firstly, it was complicated for both managers and staff to define problems in terms of gender and gender equality issues. Secondly, those who called attention to problems risked losing important contacts and commissions. Thirdly, due to the constant time pressure and the lack of initiative from management in gender equality issues, the employees had to handle problems arising relating to gender on their own, depending on their own time and energy. Paradoxically, the adopting of the ideal of gender equality and the focus on individual competence prevented gender being seen as a factor that could affect the work environment. By that, inequalities relating to gender were hidden and thereby also the importance of active gender equality work.

Gender equality and gender equality work is relevant for today's working life, and previously male-dominated occupations may be increasingly under pressure to become more equal. This paper aims to explore and understand how the firefighters at a station are experiencing gender and gender equality in rescue services. Using theories of how sex is done, how a power perspective and a structural approach can show men's and women's different conditions in an organization, and theories that are more specific to gender and change management the firefighters talk about gender and gender equality are analyzed. Essay results were collected through interviews with seven firefighters and then analyzed and interpreted with the help of theories. The analysis shows that there is a perception among the firefighters that men and women are biologically different and that required physical strength legitimizes the exclusion of women. Inequality is seen as something natural and by pursuing an active gender equality women are given unwarranted benefits. When physical strength becomes a legitimate reason for exclusion, the responsibility for gender inequality is put on women and that women don’t have what it takes. There is also a resistance against gender equality analyzed in the paper, and it's stated opposition seems to be directed against the management's way of recruiting women. Respondents argue that management must reduce requirements for the employment of women, and therefore risk their and society's safety. Deeper analysis shows however, a perception that a woman can´t do the physical requirements and that women are not suitable as firefighters. The physical strength is not an individual characteristic that women can have, but it becomes part of the social performance of masculinity. It is not strength that firefighters are demanding but male firefighters, and resistance therefore appears to be directed against the representation of women in the profession that increases.