Background: Women and men in Sweden are in paid work to almost the same extent, but are found in different occupations and positions in the labour market. Still, women perform the bulk of the unpaid domestic work at home. Gendered inequalities in these respects leave women and men exposed to different work environments and responsibilities, which in turn can have gendered health consequences. In public health research there is a lack of studies on domestic work that include women and men, as well as a lack of qualitative studies exploring individuals’ experiences of domestic work and mental health. At the workplace level, few attempts have been made to analyse how several dimensions of gender equality at workplaces are related to health status and there is a lack of studies with a contextual approach combining many different variables that are at play simultaneously. Because of the cross-sectional design of previous studies on paid and domestic work there is a lack of analyses taking possible health-related selection into account, which makes it difficult to ascertain whether gender equality leads to better health or if good health is a prerequisite for gender equality. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to analyse gender relations of work (at workplaces and at home) in relation to mental illness among women and men. Methods: The thesis was based on data from the Northern Swedish Cohort. The baseline survey was conducted in 1981 when the participants were 16 years old (n= 1080, 574 boys and 506 girls), with follow-up at age 18, 21, 30 and 42. The response rate was 94 % throughout the last follow-up in 2007. Data from the Northern Swedish Cohort were supplemented with register data about the employees at the participants’ workplaces. The analysis methods for the questionnaire and register data were logistic regression analysis and cluster analysis. Interviews were performed with four women and four men in the Northern Swedish Cohort and were analysed with a Grounded Theory approach. Results: Women had overall greater responsibility for domestic work. Gender inequality in responsibility for domestic work and perceptions of gender inequality in the couple relationship (after adjustments for background variables and previous psychological distress) were associated with psychological distress among women and men. However, among men the relation between domestic work inequalities and psychological distress was affected by socioeconomic position relative to the partner. Having less responsibility for domestic work and a partner with higher socioeconomic position was associated with psychological distress among men. The qualitative analysis showed that gender relations were an important part of how the domestic work was unequally organised and related to experiences of mental illness among women and men. Among women the high burden of domestic work was experienced as an obstacle to experiencing good health. Among men the experience of being trapped in an outmoded masculinity was related to feelings of stress. At the workplace level, patterns of gender inequality were associated with psychological distress among women, but not among men. However, the most gender-equal pattern was related to lower as well as more similar levels of mental illness among women and men, which supports a convergence in health when women’s and men’s work conditions become more similar. Conclusion: Gender equality at home and at work is central for reducing mental illness among both women and men, but also for achieving a good average health status in the population, which is a central public health target. When investigating social inequalities in health, gender perspectives are of great importance for deepening the understanding of how and why gender inequalities in paid and domestic work are related to mental illness. Integrating gender perspectives into public health policy could be a way to acknowledge power relations that hinder good public health. / Bakgrund: Kvinnor och män i Sverige yrkesarbetar i nästan samma sträckning, men återfinns i olika yrken och positioner på arbetsmarknaden. Samtidigt utför kvinnor merparten av det obetalda arbetet i hemmet. Könade orättvisor i dessa avseenden innebär att kvinnor och män utsätts för olika arbetsmiljöer och ansvarsområden, vilket kan medföra könade hälsokonsekvenser. Dock är det få folkhälsovetenskapliga studier om obetalt arbete i hemmet och hälsa som inkluderar både kvinnor och män. Det är också en brist på kvalitativa studier som undersöker individers upplevelser av det obetalda arbetet i hemmet och psykisk hälsa. På arbetsplatsnivå har det gjorts få försök att analysera hur olika dimensioner av jämställdhet på arbetsplatser är relaterade till hälsostatus, och det är en brist på studier med en kontextuell metod som tar hänsyn till hur flera olika variabler samspelar. Tidigare folkhälsovetenskapliga studier som undersökt förvärvsarbete och hemarbete har framförallt använt sig av en tvärsnittsdesign, vilket gjort det svårt att utreda riktningen av samband mellan jämställdhet och psykisk hälsa, det vill säga om jämställdhet leder till bättre hälsa eller om god hälsa är en förutsättning för jämställdhet. Syfte: Syftet med denna avhandling var att analysera genusrelationer i arbete (på arbetsplatser och i hemmet) i förhållande till självskattad psykisk ohälsa bland kvinnor och män. Metod: Avhandlingen bygger på data från Luleåkohorten. Baslinjeundersökningen genomfördes år 1981 då deltagarna var 16 år (n=1080, 574 pojkar och 506 flickor). Uppföljningar har genomförts vid 18, 21, 30 och 42 års ålder och svarsfrekvensen var 94% under det senaste uppföljningen år 2007. Data från Luleåkohorten kompletterades med registerdata om anställda på deltagarnas arbetsplatser. Analysmetoder för enkät- och registerdata var logistisk regressionsanalys och klusteranalys. Intervjuer har genomförts med fyra kvinnor och fyra män i kohorten och analyserats med grundad teori. Resultat: Kvinnor hade totalt sett ett större och män ett mindre ansvar för det obetalda arbetet i hemmet. Upplevelse av bristande jämställdhet i ansvar för obetalt arbete i hemmet och i parrelationen hade ett samband med psykisk ohälsa bland kvinnor och män (även efter justering för bakgrundsvariabler och tidigare psykisk ohälsa). Att ha mindre ansvar för det obetalda arbetet i hemmet och en partner med högre socioekonomisk klass hade även ett samband med psykisk ohälsa bland män. Den kvalitativa analysen visade att genusrelationer var en viktig del i en ojämställd organisering av hemarbete och relaterade till upplevelser av psykisk ohälsa bland kvinnor och män. En hög belastning av hemarbete var ett hinder för kvinnor att uppleva en god hälsa. Upplevelser av att vara instängd i en omodern maskulinitet innebar en stressfull situation bland män. Mönster av ojämställdhet på arbetsplatser hade ett samband med psykisk ohälsa för kvinnor, men inte för män. Däremot visade sig de mest jämställda arbetsplats-mönstern vara relaterade till lägre och mer liknande nivåer av psykisk ohälsa bland kvinnor och män, vilket stödjer en konvergens i hälsa när kvinnor och mäns arbetsplats förhållanden är likvärdiga. Slutsats: Jämställdhet på arbetsplatser och i hemmet är viktigt för att minska psykisk ohälsa både bland kvinnor och män, men också för att uppnå en god genomsnittlig hälsa i befolkningen, något som är ett centralt folkhälsomål. Vid analyser av social ojämlikhet i hälsa är genusperspektiv av stor betydelse för att fördjupa förståelsen om hur och varför ojämställdhet i på arbetsplatser och i hemmet är relaterat till psykisk ohälsa. Att integrera genusperspektiv i folkhälsopolicy kan vara ett sätt att ta hänsyn till de maktrelationer som förhindrar en god folkhälsa.

The Islamic legislative drafting methodology is meant to bring the family law of Islamic countries into line with current conceptions of gender equality found not only in the West but in Islamic law (the shari’a) as well. The methodology involves identifying the fundamental principles of shari’a and recognizing that they must be adapted to the socio-economic conditions in which they are to be applied.

Abstract Title: Gender equality – of course! A qualitative study on gender equal recruitment at a university Author: Ingrid Öhlund Several studies show that the division of gender in Swedish universities is uneven. Since universities are important organizations where our future citizens get their education and become socialized, I found it interesting to investigate how a Swedish university handles the gender equality issue in the process of recruitment. The aim of this study was to contribute with a higher level of knowledge and understanding about the recruitment process out of a gender equality perspective. The aim was also to identify which stages of the recruitment process that was vulnerable out of a gender equality perspective. To examine this, these following questions were put: Which struc-tures may seem prohibitive when it comes to recruit gender equal? and Which stages in the pro-cess is vulnerable out of a gender equal perspective?. Weber's bureaucracy model and also institutional theory with concepts such as legitimacy were used to explore the subject. To carry out the study, a qualitative method with interviews was used and seven persons with different experiences of the recruitment process participated. The result shows that there are several vulnerable stages in the recruitment process and that there are structures that may seem prohibitive from a gender equality perspective. There is a discrepancy between how the documents present the work with gender equality and the actual behavior in the organization. Another vulnerability that emerges from the study is that knowledge and information were not communicated and spread out in the organization. There are ambiguities in the routines and uncertainties on how you can, or cannot, write the employment profile to attract candidates. The commitment to gender equal recruitment is often a matter of personal interest. However, the results show that nobody opposes the issue of equality as an important matter. The results were further analyzed by using the concepts professional bureaucracy, meritocracy, inertia, legitimacy and decoupling. Keywords: Gender equality, University, Bureaucracy, Recruitment process, Meritocracy

This discursive policy study has its starting point in the criticism of the Swedish gender-equality policy is depoliticised. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the Swedish gender-equality policy was problematised and designed during the 2000s. The purpose of this paper is also to investigate whether the Swedish gender-equality policy can be defined as a depoliticised policy or not. The research questions of this study are: What´s the problem of gender-equality represented to be in the specifics policies and what effects are produced of this representation? Can gender policy, as it is designed in the various policy documents, be understood as a depoliticised policy, in the sense that sex is not articulated on the basis of a conflict dimension? To find the answer of theese questions I use the method ”Whats´s the problem represented to be", which is an inductive approach where the researcher sets selected questions to its material. The result of this study shows that the problem of gender-equality usually is represented in three different ways. The first finding is that the problem is descbribed in terms, that there is an uneven distribution of power between man and women. The second results shows that the problem with the unequal society is explained in terms that there´s is a lack of quality and knowledge. The last representation is described in terms that there is a problem for the democracy and the growth. The study result also shows that the Swedish gender-equality policy mostly can be understood as a de-politicised policy. / Denna studie är en diskursanalytisk policystudie som tar sin början i kritik om att den svenska jämställdhetspolitiken är avpolitiserad och saknar maktkritiskt innehåll. Syftet med denna uppsats är därför att undersöka hur den svenska jämställdhetspolitiken problematiserats och utformats under 2000-talet. Syftet med denna uppsats är också att undersöka om den svenska jämställdhetspolitiken kan definieras som ett avpolitiserat politikområde. De frågeställningar som studien ämnar svara är följande: Hur representeras jämställdhetsproblemet i de olika policydokumenten och vad blir effekterna av denna representation? Kan jämställdhetspolitiken, så som den är utformat i de olika policydokumenten, förstås som ett avpolitserat politikområde, i den mening att kön inte artikuleras utifrån en konfliktdimension? För att söka svar på dessa frågor används metoden What´s the problem represented to be? som är en induktiv strategi där forskaren ställer valda frågor till sitt material. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att jämställdhetsproblemet huvudsakligen framställs i tre olika typer av representationer. Dessa tre har jag valt kalla: maktfördelningsproblem, bristande kvalité- och kunskapsproblem och demokrati- och tillväxtproblem. Studiens resultat visar också att den svenska jämställdhetspolitiken mestadels kan förstås som ett avpolitiserat politikområde.

This "cross-culture" study deals entirely on awareness and attitudes among Kenyan andSwedish teachers in terms of gender equality. Parts of this study were conducted in Kenya,where I spent a month living and visited a school in a multi-million city. There, I conductedsemi-structured interviews with teachers and gathered material for my thesis. The purpose ofthis study is to see how teachers in Kenya relate to gender and then compare this withSwedish teachers. The study also includes a review of national policy documents for schoolregarding gender equality. In Kenya I interviewed four teachers in the secondary school whoteach various subjects. The conclusions drawn by the governing documents for school was that the teachers in bothcountries are encouraged to work with gender equality. My performance analysis isconstructed on the basis of Yvonne Hirdmans theory of dichotomy, hierarchy andreproduction process. Educators' awareness of gender issues was distinguished. Everyone hadopinions and told me about them. There approach to equality lead to some diversity amongthe teachers. They claim that equality brings many negative sides and are afraid that they willovershadow the good parts. / Denna ”cross-culture” studie handlar i sin helhet om hur medvetenheten och förhållningssättetär bland kenyanska och svenska lärare när det gäller jämställdhet. Delar av denna studiegenomfördes i Kenya, där jag under en månads tid levde och besökte en skola i enmångmiljonstad. Där genomförde jag semistrukturerade intervjuer med lärare samt samladematerial till mitt examensarbete. Syftet med studien är att se hur lärare i Kenya förhåller sigtill jämställdhet för att sedan jämföra detta med Svenska lärares. Studien innehåller också engranskning av ländernas styrdokument för skolan gällande jämställdhet. Jag intervjuade fyraverksamma lärare på secondary school som undervisar i olika ämnen.De slutsatser som drogs utifrån styrdokumenten var att lärarna i båda länderna uppmanas attarbeta med jämställdhet. Min resultatanalys är uppbyggd med utgångspunkt i YvonneHirdmans teorier om dikotomi, hierarki och reproduktionsprocessen. Pedagogernasmedvetenhet kring jämställdhetsfrågor var stor. Alla hade åsikter och berättade om dem.Förhållningssättet till jämställdhet skilde sig något åt bland lärarna. De påstår attjämställdheten medför många negativa sidor och är rädda för att dessa skall överskugga debra.

This research project critically questions the power relations inherent in the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a tool for international development. My case study focuses on the partnership between UNESCO and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which advocates for global gender equality. This discourse analysis seeks to expose the social inequities that may result from CSR by using the theoretical framework of Orientalism and the methodologies of postcolonial feminism and intersectionality. The results suggest that an outdated understanding of gender as the axis of discrimination hinders the attainment of gender equality. Furthermore, Girl Effect type initiatives that promote third-wave feminism are observed to reproduce social inequities through the perpetuation of global capitalism. Key recommendations include a reconceptualization of gender (equality) that accounts for the intersectionality of identities, holistic context specific solutions, and the use of socio-cultural analysis for CSR programming.

This research project critically questions the power relations inherent in the use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a tool for international development. My case study focuses on the partnership between UNESCO and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), which advocates for global gender equality. This discourse analysis seeks to expose the social inequities that may result from CSR by using the theoretical framework of Orientalism and the methodologies of postcolonial feminism and intersectionality. The results suggest that an outdated understanding of gender as the axis of discrimination hinders the attainment of gender equality. Furthermore, Girl Effect type initiatives that promote third-wave feminism are observed to reproduce social inequities through the perpetuation of global capitalism. Key recommendations include a reconceptualization of gender (equality) that accounts for the intersectionality of identities, holistic context specific solutions, and the use of socio-cultural analysis for CSR programming.

In the last decades the Swedish labor market has been characterized by a stereotype perception on women’s role and position on the market. The perception speaks of the characteristics of female leadership as being less qualified causing the gaps between the two genders to transform into a gender segregated society. The historically slow progress has limited the career opportunities for women to reach top management. However the increasing discussions during the 21st century on how to reduce the gender differences in the labor market has made it more acceptable with women on higher positions. Despite of that there is still a lack of women representing top management position on the Swedish labor market today. According to the efficient market hypothesis, financial assets have the ability to adapt and reflect on all available information in consideration of the price. According to the theory this means that the announcement of CEO succession doesn’t have an effect on the share price. In contradiction previous studies show that there is a correlation between published information and share prices. The aim of this paper is to examine how CEO successions effect share prices and wheatear there are differences in how the price is affected by the succession of male or female CEO´s.  The result of the study shows that there is a correlation between male and female CEO successions as confirmed by testing a hypothesis that also has rejected the efficient market hypothesis. What is significant in the study is the difference in reaction to the announcement of CEO succession between the two genders. Female CEO succession generates clear negative abnormal returns unlike male CEO succession generating positive abnormal returns. The study also indicates that female succession generates a clearly unstable share price during the estimated timeframe which can be clearly discerned from a relatively stable share price that can be observed from male successions. In conclusion, the study shows that there are differences between both genders furthermore indicating that the traditional and narrow minded view of women’s leadership is still anchored in the society.

In Sweden today, more women are still going on parental leave than men. The number of men and women going on parental leave is more equalized than ever before. At the same time the inequalities are still big and more women than men choose to work part time up till the child is eight years old. The aim of the study is through a gender perspective, to investigate the preschool teacher’s thoughts about the daily meetings with parents and the contact during induction. The study is based on the theoretical concepts: gender, norms and gender equality as well as three questions. What are the thoughts of the preschool teachers regarding the organization of the daily contact, focusing on the parent’s gender? What are the preschool teacher’s expectations on the parent’s behavior during the daily contact and during the induction? How do the preschool teachers process the term gender in relation to the children´s parents? In order to answer my three questions, I have done five qualitative interviews within two different preschools. The fifteen questions were predetermined and categorized and the informants got to answer the same questions to give them the same opportunities. The results show that men are taking bigger responsibility in the contact between home and preschool as well as the induction, than the literature suggests. The five preschool teachers communicates that there has been a transformation regarding parents and gender equality though there are still a lot to be done in that area.

The Islamic legislative drafting methodology is meant to bring the family law of Islamic countries into line with current conceptions of gender equality found not only in the West but in Islamic law (the shari’a) as well. The methodology involves identifying the fundamental principles of shari’a and recognizing that they must be adapted to the socio-economic conditions in which they are to be applied.