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<p>The impact of trade policies on the pursuit of gender equality is often ignored. Recognising the link between trade and gender, this dissertation aims to enhance the capacity of policy-makers to mainstream gender in trade policy and to help identify ways for using trade to respond to women&rsquo / s needs in South Africa. In order to meet this objective, it analyses the impacts that trade liberalisation has had on the economy and on gender in general and in South Africa in particular. In addition, it evaluates the impacts on men and women in order to see if trade has contributed to reducing, accentuating or perpetuating gender inequality in South Africa. Findings have confirmed that Trade liberalisation has had both positive and negative impacts on women and men. But, they have also demonstrated that trade liberalisation has affected women and men differently having negative influences on the pursuit of gender equality. The research has, however, concluded that the impact of trade liberalisation on the pursuit of gender equality is influenced by other key factors. As strategy to mainstream gender in trade policies, the research suggests that policy-makers should analyse the implications for women and men of any trade policy before adopting such policy. This analysis would help him/her to see the possible imbalances of the new policy and implement policies and programmes to eradicate them. Also, it will help him/her to identify possible ways for using trade to empower women. The research is based on the idea that the elimination of the existing inequalities will put women at the same stage with men and will, therefore, contribute to women&rsquo / s empowerment in South Africa.</p>

<p>The impact of trade policies on the pursuit of gender equality is often ignored. Recognising the link between trade and gender, this dissertation aims to enhance the capacity of policy-makers to mainstream gender in trade policy and to help identify ways for using trade to respond to women&rsquo / s needs in South Africa. In order to meet this objective, it analyses the impacts that trade liberalisation has had on the economy and on gender in general and in South Africa in particular. In addition, it evaluates the impacts on men and women in order to see if trade has contributed to reducing, accentuating or perpetuating gender inequality in South Africa. Findings have confirmed that Trade liberalisation has had both positive and negative impacts on women and men. But, they have also demonstrated that trade liberalisation has affected women and men differently having negative influences on the pursuit of gender equality. The research has, however, concluded that the impact of trade liberalisation on the pursuit of gender equality is influenced by other key factors. As strategy to mainstream gender in trade policies, the research suggests that policy-makers should analyse the implications for women and men of any trade policy before adopting such policy. This analysis would help him/her to see the possible imbalances of the new policy and implement policies and programmes to eradicate them. Also, it will help him/her to identify possible ways for using trade to empower women. The research is based on the idea that the elimination of the existing inequalities will put women at the same stage with men and will, therefore, contribute to women&rsquo / s empowerment in South Africa.</p>

Magister Legum - LLM / The impact of trade policies on the pursuit of gender equality is often ignored. Recognising the link between trade and gender, this dissertation aims to enhance the capacity of policy-makers to mainstream gender in trade policy and to help identify ways for using trade to respond to women's needs in South Africa. In order to meet this objective, it analyses the impacts that trade liberalisation has had on the economy and on gender in general and in South Africa in particular. In addition, it evaluates the impacts on men and women in order to see if trade has contributed to reducing, accentuating or perpetuating gender inequality in South Africa. Findings have confirmed that Trade liberalisation has had both positive and negative impacts on women and men. But, they have also demonstrated that trade liberalisation has affected women and men differently having negative influences on the pursuit of gender equality. The research has, however, concluded that the impact of trade liberalisation on the pursuit of gender equality is influenced by other key factors. As strategy to mainstream gender in trade policies, the research suggests that policy-makers should analyse the implications for women and men of any trade policy before adopting such policy. This analysis would help him/her to see the possible imbalances of the new policy and implement policies and programmes to eradicate them. Also, it will help him/her to identify possible ways for using trade to empower women. The research is based on the idea that the elimination of the existing inequalities will put women at the same stage with men and will, therefore, contribute to women's empowerment in South Africa. / South Africa

There is a massive gender gap in the tech startup industry. 1% of the CTOs at venture-backed companies in Europe are women and only 1% of the venture capital in Sweden is given to all-female founding teams. The author believes that gender equality should improve because of the fundamental right to have equal opportunities, but also because it could benefit the industry. Research indicates that gender equality, for example, can lead to increased profitability. This thesis is a qualitative study aiming to understand the effects of the industry gender gap by investigating how women in the industry perceive gender inequality. The study will answer to what extent gender equality is seen as a problem, what barriers female tech entrepreneurs face and present some explanations for the gender gap. The foundation for the results and discussion sections is a literature review on entrepreneurship and gender and semi-structured qualitative interviews. The interviews were carried out with women who had worked in the tech startup industry in Stockholm. A total of 12 respondents with various professions and degrees of technical skills were interviewed. They worked or had worked as founders, investors or at incubators. Throughout the analysis, two distinct views on the extent of the problem were identified. Some women perceived the gender gap as mainly unproblematic and their gender as beneficial yet insignificant. These respondents have been labeled the Positive Gender Neutral (PGN) group. They stated that their gender was more advantageous than impeding. Being a minority makes one stand out, which can be beneficial. The other group of respondents raised that this visibility can be both advantageous and tiring. This group has been labeled the Structure Acknowledging (SA) group. They expressed that there are layers of gender inequality in addition to the gender discrepancy. They stated that there are significant barriers to female entrepreneurs and wished to decrease gender inequality. Both groups expressed that there are certain barriers to women, although the PGN group tended to view the barriers as relating to individual women and the SA group to structures in the industry and society. Some expressed that women have internal barriers such as a lack of confidence and unwillingness to take risk. Some structural barriers expressed were the male entrepreneurial norm and male domination of the industry, including a ”bro culture” and homosociality. The two distinct views on gender inequality can be seen as coping strategies for succeeding in a male-dominated environment. That could be an indication that there is a strong male norm in the industry. Many raised rhetoric such as master suppression techniques or excluding entrepreneurial language as barriers. The respondents furthermore also often explained the gender gap with women being attracted to other industries or lacked tech entrepreneur role models. Finally, comparing the results to previous research, all respondents have a high gender awareness level, in particular, the respondents in the SA group. Gender awareness can lead to change. Thus, hopefully, there is a positive trend of gender awareness in the industry, which this thesis hopes to contribute to. / Det finns ett stort könsgap i tech startup-industrin. 1% av CTOs på företag backade av riskkapital i Europa är kvinnor och endast 1% av riskkapitalet i Sverige ges till helt kvinnliga grundarteam. Författaren anser att jämställdheten bör förbättras dels på grund av den grundläggande rättigheten att ha lika möjligheter, dels för att det kan gynna industrin. Forskning tyder på att jämställdhet till exempel kan leda till ökad lönsamhet. Denna avhandling är en kvalitativ studie som syftar till att förstå effekterna av industrins könsdiskrepans genom att undersöka hur kvinnor i branschen upplever ojämställdhet. Studien ämnar besvara till vilken utsträckning jämställdhet ses som ett problem, vilka hinder som kvinnliga teknikföretagare står inför och presenterar några förklaringar för könsskillnaden. Grunden för resultaten och diskussionen är en litteraturstudie om entreprenörskap och kön samt halvstrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer. Intervjuerna genomfördes med kvinnor som arbetat i tech startup-industrin i Stockholm. Sammanlagt tolv respondenter med olika yrken och grader av tekniska färdigheter intervjuades. De arbetade eller hade arbetat som grundare, investerare eller på inkubatorer. I analysen identifierades två olika synsätt på problemets omfattning. Vissa kvinnor upplevde könsskillnaden som huvudsakligen oproblematisk och deras kön som fördelaktigt men likväl obetydligt. Dessa respondenter har benämnts den positiva könsneutrala gruppen (PGN). Att vara en minoritet gör att man sticker ut, vilket kan vara fördelaktigt. Den andra gruppen av svarande hävdade att denna synlighet kan vara både fördelaktig och tröttsam. Denna grupp har benämnts den strukturerkännande gruppen (SA). De uttryckte att det finns ojämställdhet utöver könsgapet. De uppgav att det finns betydande hinder för kvinnliga entreprenörer och att de ville minska könens ojämlikhet. Båda grupperna gav uttryck för att det finns vissa hinder för kvinnor, även om PGN-gruppen tenderade att se hindren i relation till andra kvinnor medan SA-gruppen nämnde samhälleliga strukturer. Några uttryckte att kvinnor har interna hinder som brist på självförtroende och ovillighet att ta risk. Några strukturella hinder som uttrycktes var den manliga entreprenörsnormen och den manliga dominansen i branschen, inklusive en "grabbig” kultur och homosocialitet. De två distinkta föreställningarna om jämställdhet mellan könen kan ses som strategier för att lyckas i en manligt dominerad miljö, vilket kan kopplas till att det finns en stark manlig norm i branschen. Andra hinder som lyftes var härskartekniker, manligt entreprenörsspråk och brist på förebilder. Slutligen visar en jämförelse av resultaten med tidigare forskning att respondenterna har en hög könsmedvetenhetsnivå, i synnerhet SA-gruppen. Könsmedvetenhet kan leda till förändring. Således finns det förhoppningsvis en positiv utveckling av könsmedvetenhet inom branschen, som denna avhandling hoppas bidra till.