Aim of the study: The main aim of the study is to examine and pursue research regarding the history and role of law in the disintegration of the institutions of traditional leadership in South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho in order to make recommendations regarding the challenges and opportunities facing traditional authorities in these countries. The traditional systems, roles and functions of these institutions are traced from the pre-colonial era up to the period of democratic regimes in these countries. This study is based on the premises that the jurisprudence of the institution of traditional leadership is as old as mankind and that this institution is rooted in the rural soil of African communities. Research Methodology: This study is based on legal comparative research with reference to South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho. A literature survey of the most important sources dealing with history, legislation and policy documents was undertaken. Conclusion and Recommendations: The institution of traditional leadership is one of the oldest traditional institutions of governance in South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho. During the pre-colonial era traditional authorities constituted an important component in the traditional system of the administration of the traditional community. Traditions placed a great amount of responsibility on traditional leaders to look after the best interests of their communities. When the colonial government took over the reigns of these three countries, they changed the pre-colonial form and nature of traditional authorities. These colonial governments exercised control over traditional leaders and allowed minimum independence in their traditional rule. The post-colonial governments of South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho retained the institution of traditional leadership. The Constitutions of these countries provide the legal framework for the recognition and functioning of the office of traditional leaders. However, it has been noted in this study that the relationship between the traditional leaders and the governments of these countries has been a mixture of conflict and cordiality. One of the reasons for this uneasy relationship between the traditional leaders and the central governments of these countries is that the status, authority, power and functions of traditional leaders have been reduced considerably when new institutions such as Local Governments, Land Boards, District Councils and Village District Councils were given powers and functions previously exercised by traditional leaders. The post-colonial transformation of traditional leadership in these three countries has led to a steep decline in the authority of traditional leaders. In order to encourage active participation of the traditional leaders in the new democratic structures and bodies, the institution of traditional leadership must be adapted to the changing political, social and economic environments. Rural local government bodies and the national governments of these countries should not view the institutions of traditional leadership as competitors for political power. The post-colonial governments of South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho should introduce traditional leaders as equal partners in the development and advancement of rural communities. In order to achieve this goal the governments of these countries should empower and capacitate traditional leaders so that they do not become misfits in the new constitutional and democratic settlements. / Thesis (LL.D. (Indigenous Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Several empirical studies have concluded that gender equality is a crucial ingredient for development. Gendered higher education institutions play an important role in this respect. The research problem that this dissertation sought to address was whether Addis Ababa and Unity Universities have mainstreamed gender throughout their systems in order to contribute towards gender equality and women empowerment in Ethiopia. The research employed various data collection methodologies and processed primary and secondary data sources using qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques. The key finding is that gender has not been integrated into the policies and practices of both Universities in any significant way. The study concludes that the Universities have an inadequate institutional framework and commitment to mainstream gender. Moreover, they lack gender analytical capacity, enforcement mechanisms for accountability, and have not forged strategic partnerships with development partners. / Educational Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

The adoption of the 1996 Constitution in recognition of the historic imbalances that South Africa inherited from its past, affirms the commitment to the promotion of human rights including the right to equality. The emphasis on the right to equality in the Constitution and other related laws discussed in the study represents a guarantee for both men and women the right to equal treatment and benefit of the law. The point of departure is based on the premise that views the law as an instrument that has the potential to effect social change. The primary purpose is to determine various factors that are an impediment to the significance of the law for the promotion of the right to gender equality. The objective is to establish with sufficient certainty the substantive conception of the right to gender equality in post-apartheid South Africa. This dissertation examines and provides a brief overview of the development and the intersection of the principles of non-discrimination at the international and regional spheres and their influence in broadening the scope for enforcement of gender equality in South Africa. It provides a literature review and an analysis of the equality jurisprudence of South Africa’s Constitutional Court and its influence to the lowest structures of the judiciary in promoting the right to gender equality. This undertaking is reinforced by the primary purpose in this study of examining various factors that are an impediment to the promotion of the right to gender equality. It discovers that the establishment of a “just society” is difficult where the significance of the law is affected by the lack of legal knowledge and other related factors identified in the study. It establishes that the promotion of the right to gender equality is a gradual process that should not be undertaken overnight but on a continuous basis. It can be drawn from the findings in this study that the law “alone” is limited in its application in addressing socio-legal problems. Despite the limitation, the use of law is not a goal that should be discarded as it lays the framework for the determination of the significance of legal measures for social change.

During the course of this study we have been inspired by Carin Holmbergs essay ’It’s Called Love’ (1993). Our purpose with this study has been to examine how gender works among young Swedish heterosexual couples without children. This was done by examining how couples distribute housework among themselves, with certain focus on how class interacts with gender. We asked three questions: 1). How is gender made in relation to expected characteristics of how women and men should be? 2). How is gender made with distribution of household work within the couples? 3). In what way does class play a role in distribution of domestic work? Qualitative method was used in order to answer our purpose and questions. We interviewed ten couples, five whom had a university degree and five whom had secondary education. Our theoretical framework consists of the perspective of symbolic interactionism, Yvonne Hirdman's theory of the gender system, asymmetric role-taking and class. The analysis of our empirical material showed that the individuals within the couples attribute themselves and each other with properties that are in line with the traditional gender distribution in society, regardless of which class the couples belong to. When it came to all housework activities women were initiators. The distribution of household work took place according to what the men thought was interesting, regardless of class. Class, on the other hand, plays a role in the distribution of domestic work that took place on the basis of what was natural or not. Couples with upper secondary education distribute household work based on what is natural for the sexes in relation to the traditional gender roles, while those with an academic degree carry out household work that is not tied to the traditional gender roles to a greater extent. We found that women's and men's genders contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of the woman as subordinate and the man as superior, which contributes to an uneven distribution of labour in the home where the woman still has the main responsibility for the care work.

Denna studie utgår från en undersökning om hur elever i grundskolans årskurs 4 – 6 uppfattar jämställdhet och vilka erfarenheter eleverna har av jämställdhet respektive ojämställdhet. Jämställdhet diskuteras aktivt i samhället och berör alla människor, vuxna som barn. Barnen bör få vara delaktiga i det jämställdhetsarbete som är igång. Trots detta har jag endast hittat lite forskning kring hur just barn tänker om jämställdhet. Därför utgår denna uppsats ifrån just barns perspektiv på jämställdhet. Syftet med studien är därför att undersöka elevers perspektiv på jämställdhet för att förstå hur eleverna uppfattar området för att vidare kunna involvera eleverna ytterligare i jämställdhetsarbetet. Metoden för insamlingen av empirin är gruppintervjuer där elever indelats i grupper för att diskutera förberedda frågor om jämställdhet. Eleverna har i grupperna diskuterat de olika frågorna och sett en film om jämställdhet som senare också diskuterats. Under aktiviteten har jag antagit en passiv roll större delen av tiden. Eleverna visar att de är väl medvetna om jämställdhet och genusfrågor och har många olika erfarenheter av ojämställda händelser i deras skolvardag. Samtliga elever tycker det är viktigt att jobba med området i skolan för att göra varandra, både barn och vuxna, medvetna om hur man agerar i vardagen utifrån vissa stereotypiska könsmönster och könsroller. Eleverna upplever att de själva har blivit väldigt påverkade och uttrycker traditionella könsmönster på flera olika sätt exempelvis genom att anta att pojkar spelar bättre fotboll eller att flickor är lugnare. Pojkarna upplever sig själva som roligare medan flickorna uppfattar dem som att de måste skämta för att upprätthålla en social, konstruerad roll. / The purpose of the study is to investigate what pupils in primary school’s grades’ 4 – 6 think about gender equality and what experiences they have of both gender equality and inequality. Gender equality is currently being discussed in society and all people are affected by it, adults as well as children. The children should be able to be involved in the contemporary work about equality. Even so, I have found few studies about how children think about this. Therefore, this essay is based on their perspective. Following the purpose of this essay is to learn about pupils’ perspective on gender equality in order to involve them more in the future in this important matter. The method that is being used to collect the information is group interviews where pupils have been divided into groups to discuss questions about gender equality. In these groups the pupils have discussed different questions and then watched a movie on the topic of equality that later was discussed. During the activity I took on a passive role most of the time. The pupils show that they are well aware of gender equality and questions about gender and they have many different inequality experiences of incidents from there school days. All the pupils think it is important to work with these questions in school to make each other, both adults and children, aware of how you normally tend to act based on stereotypical gender patterns. The pupils experience that they themselves have been affected by stereotypes and express several traditional gender patterns, for example by assuming that boys are better at soccer or that girls are generally calmer. The boys experience themselves as funnier while the girls assume that the boys must joke around more to uphold a socially, constructed role.

La mixité à l’école est souvent considérée comme un moyen privilégié pour tendre vers une meilleure égalité entre les filles et les garçons. Si les différents dispositifs institutionnels encourageant sa mise en oeuvre ont contribué à une égalité de droits, ils n’ont pas abouti pour autant à une égalité dans les faits. La recherche analyse finement les formes concrètes que peut prendre la mixité dans l’éducation physique et sportive (EPS) dans le second degré où certaines inégalités entre les filles et les garçons sont encore souvent considérées comme « naturelles ». Allant à l’encontre de cette idée reçue, la thèse montre que si la mixité n’est pas, a priori, un obstacle à une meilleure égalité entre les sexes, les choix pédagogiques pouvant y être associés sont susceptibles de mettre en difficulté une partie des filles. Méthodologiquement, le travail s’appuie sur plusieurs dispositifs articulés entre eux : une observation ethnographique de 200 heures d’enseignement ; une vingtaine d’entretiens avec des professeurs d’EPS ; l’analyse secondaire de deux enquêtes nationales ayant permis d’interroger par questionnaire 1 954 élèves et 1 317 enseignants du second degré. La recherche montre, entre autres, que les formes de regroupements choisis, les contenus d’enseignement privilégiés (à forte connotation masculine), les interactions entre le professeur et les élèves sont autant d’éléments susceptibles d’entretenir une inégalité de traitement des filles et des garçons. En somme, le travail souligne que la mise en oeuvre de la mixité en EPS ne peut faire l’économie d’une réflexion approfondie permettant l’élaboration de dispositifs pédagogiques autorisant une réelle prise en considération des différences entre filles et garçons (que celles-ci soient d’ordre biologique ou culturel). / Coeducation is often considered an ideal way to foster equality between girls and boys. Although, in theory, various institutional initiatives encouraging coeducation have contributed to fostering equal rights, they do not always lead to equal opportunities in practice. This study focuses on the tangible aspects of coeducation at secondary school level in the specific fields of physical education (PE) and sport, where some inequality between girls and boys is still often considered ―normal‖. Countering this preconceived notion, the thesis demonstrates that whilst coeducation does not initially stand in the way of greater gender equality, the educational strategies that may be associated with it are likely to put some girls at a disadvantage. In terms of methodology, the research is based on a combination of several studies, including ethnographic observation of 200 teaching hours; some twenty interviews with PE and sports teachers; and secondary analysis of two national surveys based on questionnaires completed by 1,954 secondary school pupils and 1,317 secondary school teachers. The study shows, among other things, that the type of group activity and educational content chosen (which is often male-oriented), as well as the way teachers and pupils interact, are all factors that are likely to promote disparities in the way girls and boys are treated. Finally, the work underlines that teaching PE and sport in a coeducational environment cannot be done without careful consideration of the differences between girls and boys, and the development of educational strategies that take these differences into account (be they biological or cultural).

Bakgrund och problem: Genom flera studier har det framkommit att ovälkomna handlingar är en utbredd problematik inom den svenska Försvarsmakten. Kvinnorna har fortfarande inte en självklar plats på alla befattningar trots att Försvarsmaktens könsbundna yrkesmonopol slutade år 1989. Det formella nätverket Nätverk Officer/Anställd Kvinna (NOAK) infördes av Försvarsmakten för att hantera frågor kring ovälkomna handlingar, för att fungera som stöd och forum där kvinnor kan diskutera problem samt utbyta erfarenheter. Metod och syfte: Denna studie skall beskriva och undersöka hur ett formellt nätverk kan vara gynnsamt eller missgynnsamt som verktyg i arbetet med jämställdhetsintegrering inom en myndighet. Även medarbetarnas upplevelser av nätverket som verktyg kommer att studeras. Vidare ämnar studien till att identifiera eventuella bakomliggande faktorer till medarbetarnas upplevelser av verktyget formellt nätverk genom de sociala normer som påverkar varje individ. Detta för att beskriva och undersöka om formella nätverk är ett verktyg som fungerar vid jämställdhetsintegrering och hur detta då bör vidareutveckling och förbättras. Studiens resultat och slutsatser har baserats på semistrukturerade djupintervjuer med anställda på ett regemente, litteraturöversikt av tidigare forskning och interna dokument från Försvarsmakten. Resultat och slutsats: Under intervjuerna framkom att nätverk likt NOAK kan vara bra om det utformas på ett sätt som har ett förståeligt syfte för medarbetarna inom organisationen. I dagsläget saknas förståelse och kunskap om nätverket och dess syfte. Respondenterna uppgav nätverk som något positivt trots att de inte förstod varför de skulle delta på NOAK-mötena (Nätverk Officer/Anställd Kvinna). Bakomliggande faktorerna är främst okunskap kring jämställdhet, syfte och oviljan att delta i ett ”gnällforum”. / Background and problems: Through several studies it has emerged that unwelcome actions are a widespread problem within the Swedish Armed Forces. The women still do not have a clear place on all positions even though the Swedish Defense Monopoly's was closed in 1989. The formal network Network Officer/Employee Woman (NOAK) was introduced by the Swedish Armed Forces to handle issues concerning unwelcome actions, to serve as support and forums where women can discuss problems and exchange experiences. Method and purpose: This study aims to investigate how formal network can be beneficial or disadvantageous as a tool in the work of gender mainstreaming within an authority. The employees' experiences of the network as a tool will also be studied. Furthermore, the goal is to identify any underlying factors for the employees' experiences of the tool formal network through the social norms that affect everyone. This for research on formal networks is a tool that works in gender mainstreaming and how this should be further developed and improved. The study's results and conclusions have been based on semi-structured deep interviews with employees, literature review of previous research and internal documents from the Armed Forces. Results and conclusion: During the interviews it emerged that networks like NOAK can be good if it is designed in a way that has an understandable purpose for employees within the organization. In the current situation, there is no understanding and knowledge of the network and its purpose. The respondents stated that networks were something positive, even though they did not understand why they would participate in the NOAK meetings(Network Officer/Employee Woman). The underlying factors are primarily lack of knowledge of gender equality, purpose and unwillingness to participate in a "whining forum".

Bakgrund: Under flera årtionden har företag arbetat med kvalitetsledning i syfte till att förbättra och utveckla sina verksamheter. Metoder och verktyg har fungerat som stöd för att möta företagets värderingar och möta de interna och externa kundernas behov med minskad mängd resurser. Nyligen utförda projekt har kunnat bekräfta att jämställdhetsintegrering fungerar som en effektiv metod vid förbättrings- och utvecklingsarbete. Metoden påstås ha positiv inverkan på företags prestanda genom bland annat förbättrad arbetsmiljö, förhöjd kreativ och innovativ förmåga hos medarbetare samt ökad förmåga att attrahera välutbildad personal. Förutom detta anses jämställdhetsintegrering även bidra till social hållbarhet och uppfylla FN:s globala mål snabbare, vilket i sin tur leder till hållbar utveckling. Syfte: Syftet med den här studien har varit att undersöka hur jämställdhetsintegrering och kvalitetsledning samverkar, samt hur jämställdhetsintegrering kan bidra till förbättring av byggprojekt. Metod: Studien har genomförts enligt fördjupad fallstudie på Skanska Fastigheter Göteborg. För att förstå fallföretagets problem och nuvarande situation utfördes kvalitativ metod med kvantitativ inslag. Studiens kvalitativ data syftade till att skapa grundlig förståelse av ämnesområdet och fallföretagets, medan inslag av kvalitativ data motsvarade statistik från fallföretaget och byggbranschen. Som analysmetod av studiens primära datainsamling utfördes en Tematisk analys och Voice Of The Customer Table (VOCT). Resultat: I studiens teoretiska referensram identifierades flera likheter mellan kvalitetsledning och jämställdhetsintegrering, där jämställdhetsintegrering ansågs betraktas som en metod för ständiga förbättringar. Efter undersökning av Skanskas nuvarande arbetssätt framgick det att det inte finns någon koppling mellan företagets kvalitetsarbete och jämställdhetsarbete. Det medför att jämställdhetsintegrering i projektet Götakvarteren kan innebära större förändring då nya tankegångar och arbetssätt måste upprättas. Däremot indikerade analysen av medarbetarnas behov att jämställda byggprojekt är fördelaktigt för företagets hållbara utveckling. Efter analysen kunde även åtgärder och rekommendationer tas fram på hur projektet Götakvarteren kan bli mer framgångsrikt och jämställt. Slutsats: Det finns en tydlig koppling mellan jämställdhetsintegrering och kvalitetsledning, där jämställdhetsintegrering kan argumenteras för att vara en kvalitetsmetod. Just som Skanskas nuvarande kvalitetsarbete bör jämställdhetsarbetet vara integrerat i den dagliga verksamheten och accepteras som en metod för ständiga förbättringar. Utifrån Skanskas nuvarande situation togs åtgärder fram på hur jämställdhetsintegrering kan bidra till kvalitetsarbete och skapa framgångsrika och jämställda byggprojekt. / Background: Over decades, companies have been integrating quality management to constantly improve and develop their businesses. Techniques and tools have been used as support to meet the company’s values, and to increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduce amount of resources. Recent projects have demonstrated that gender mainstreaming works as an effective approach for business improvement and development. The method is claimed to have a positive impact on the company’s business performance, for instance by improved working environment, increased creative and innovative capacity of employees and an increased ability to attract well-trained staff. In addition, it is considered that gender mainstreaming contributes to social sustainability and the achievement of the UN’s global goals faster, which in turn leads to sustainable development. Purpose: The purpose of this study has been to investigate how gender mainstreaming and quality management interact, and how gender mainstreaming can contribute to the improvement of construction projects. Methodology: The study has been carried out as an in-depth case study at Skanska Commercial Development Nordic in Gothenburg. In order to understand the business case, its problem and current situation, a qualitative methodology with quantitative data was made. The qualitative data was used to obtain a deeper understanding of the case, and the quantitative data consisted of statistics from the company and the construction industry. As method of analysis, a Thematic analysis and Voice Of The Customer Table (VOCT) was done to understand the needs of the employees at Skanska. Result: In the study’s theoretical framework, several similarities between gender mainstreaming and quality management were identified, in which gender mainstreaming could be seen as a technique within quality management. From the study of Skanska’s way of working, it emerged that there is no link between their work with quality and gender equality. That entails gender mainstreaming in the project Götakvarteren will involve major changes as new ideas and methods must be established. On the other hand, the analysis indicated that the employees need of an equal construction project would be beneficial for the company’s sustainable development. Based on the needs of the employees, recommendations have been given for how Götakvarteren could become profitable by becoming Skanska’s most equal project. Conclusion: There is a distinct link between gender mainstreaming and quality management, in which gender mainstreaming can be argued to be a technique within quality management. Just as Skanska’s current quality management system, the work with gender equality should be integrated in the daily activities and accepted as a method for continuous improvement. After identifying the company’s challenges, opportunities and needs, actions have been developed for how gender mainstreaming can contribute to successful and equal construction projects.

Cette thèse s’intéresse au genre et à l’éducation, et plus particulièrement à l’institution scolaire et aux professeurs•es des écoles. Elle s’attache à rendre compte de la construction sociale et psychique du genre. Cette recherche vise à mettre en évidence les représentations d’enseignants∙es du premier degré à propos de leurs élèves filles et garçons. Les données sont issues de discours consacrés aux portraits d’élèves. Se référant à deux cadres théoriques, la théorie cognitive de la représentation sociale et la psychanalyse, deux méthodologies sont utilisées pour recueillir et analyser les données. D’une part, la méthodologie quantitative montre que c’est à propos des garçons que les enseignants∙es produisent significativement plus de discours en zone d’éducation prioritaire, et que les thèmes abordés pour faire le portrait des filles et des garçons ne sont pas les mêmes selon le contexte, et ne sont pas de même teneur. D’autre part, l’analyse clinique de vingt quatre portraits d’élève montre que les portraits des filles et des garçons ne contiennent pas les mêmes éléments en termes de rapport au savoir, et que les premières répondent plus souvent aux désirs de leur enseignant que les seconds. De fait, les élèves des deux sexes ne bénéficient pas du même environnement, des mêmes attentes en tant qu’élève fille ou garçon de la part de leurs enseignants∙es. / This PhD thesis deals with gender and education, more specifically investigating schools and schoolteachers. This research examines primary schoolteachers’ representations of their female and male pupils. Data have been drawn from the teachers’ portraits of their pupils. With reference to two theoretical frameworks, cognitive social representation theory and psychoanalysis, two methodologies have been used to collect and analyze data. On the one hand, the quantitative methodology shows that teachers produce significantly more discourse on their male pupils in zones d’education prioritaire (areas targeted for special help in education), and that when describing girls and boys, they discuss different themes in different ways according to the context. On the other, a clinical analysis of twenty-four student portraits shows that portraits of girls and boys do not focus on the same elements in terms of relationship to knowledge, and that the former more often meet their teachers’ desires than the latter. In effect, female and male pupils do not enjoy the same environment and do not elicit similar expectations from their teachers.

Bakgrund och problem:  Sedan lång tid tillbaka har det ansetts att lumpen är något av det manligaste som kan göras, för det är då ”pojkar blir till män”, och det har funnits en föreställning om att kvinnor inte hör hemma i den militära sfären. Detta med anledning att kvinnor setts som fysiskt svagare och i behov av skydd från män, vilket har medfört ett hinder för kvinnor att positionera sig i det militära. Försvarsmakten är ett av Sveriges sista manliga yrkesmonopol som avsattes först år 1989 och det har ställts många krav på kvinnor för att de skall kunna etablera sig i myndigheten. Historiskt upplevdes Försvarsmakten ha en ”grisig” jargong, kvinnor ansåg sig bli illa behandlade av befäl och sexism var något som tycktes ”sitta i väggarna”. Sverige är ett av de länder i världen som har högst andel kvinnor i arbetslivet. Trots detta har Sverige en av de mest könssegregerade arbetsmarknader i världen. Försvarsmakten arbetar idag med jämställdhet i form av handlingsplaner för jämställdhetsintegrering och mål för att uppnå en jämnare könsfördelning men det är endast 17 procent av de anställda som är kvinnor, vilket gör Försvarsmakten till en av Sveriges mest könssegregerade arbetsplatser. Syfte och metod: Syftet med föreliggande studie var att medvetandegöra samt öka förståelsen för hur socialt konstruerade könsnormer upplevs påverkar kvinnors möjligheter att arbeta i, utveckla sin karriär och stanna kvar i mansdominerade organisationer, i detta fall Försvarsmakten. Nio semistrukturerade djupintervjuer genomfördes på Trängregementet där respondenterna bestod av både kvinnor och män som är officerare. Utöver intervjuerna har även flertalet olika dokument granskats som primärt underlag för den diskursanalys som utfördes i studien samt att dokumentationen och empirin verkade som supplement till varandra. De diskursanalytiska metoderna som använts var delar av diskurspsykologi och Bacchias WPR-ansats. Intervjuerna och de granskade dokumenten utgör även studiens triangulering i syfte att erhålla ett bredare perspektiv och därmed gavs möjligheten till en djupare, mer träffsäker och fullständig bild av Försvarsmaktens jämställdhetsarbete. Resultat och slutsatser: Utifrån den diskursanalys som gjordes gick det att finna att Försvarsmakten ser på individen som problemet snarare än att det är organisationen som behöver åtgärdas samt att det även är individen som skall utgöra eller skapa lösningen. Kvinnor har formellt sett goda möjligheter till att göra karriär i Försvarsmakten. Karriärutveckling upplevs däremot som allt för snabb så att relevanta kunskaper och erfarenheter inte erhålls i den mån som upplevs behövas. Kvinnor har dessutom utmaningar med sin identitetsutveckling där de slits mellan att inte vara för ”kvinnliga” men inte heller för ”manliga”. Därmed upplever kvinnor att de inte når upp till de förväntningar som sätts på dem eller så väljer de att anta en mer ”maskulin” form för att försöka anpassa sig till normen. Stereotyper och jargong påverkar således kvinnor ur en negativ aspekt i deras arbete. / Background and problem: For a long time, it has been considered that the military service is one of the manliest things that can be done, because that is when "boys become men", and there has been a notion that women do not belong in the military sphere. This is because women were physically weaker and in need of protection from men, which has led to a barrier for women from positioning themselves in the military. The Swedish armed forces are one of Sweden's last male occupational monopolies and was first set aside 1989 and many demands have been made for women to be able to establish themselves in the authority. Historically, the armed forces were perceived to have a "grubby" jargon, women felt they were badly treated by command and sexism was something that seemed to be deeply rooted. Sweden is one of the countries in the world with the highest proportion of women in working life. Despite this, Sweden has one of the most gender-based segregation of the labor market in the world. The Swedish armed forces are currently working on gender equality in the form of action plans for gender mainstreaming and targets for achieving a more balanced gender balance. But only 17 percent of their employees are women, which makes the armed forces one of Sweden's most gender segregated workplaces. Purpose and method: The purpose of this study was to raise awareness and increase understanding of how socially constructed gender norms are perceived affecting women's opportunities to work, develop their careers and remain in male-dominated organizations, in this case the Swedish armed forces. Nine semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted at Trängregementet where the respondents consisted of both women and men who are officers. In addition to the interviews, several different documents have been examined as the primary basis for the discourse analysis that was carried out in the study. The reviewed documentation and the interviews also appeared as a supplement to each other. The discourse analytical methods used were parts of discourse psychology and Bacchias WPR approach. The interviews and the reviewed documents also form the triangulation of the study in order to obtain a broader perspective and thus the possibility of a deeper, more accurate and complete picture of the armed forces gender equality work. Results and conclusions: Based on the discourse analysis that was done, it was to be found that the armed forces see the individual as the problem rather than that the organization needs to be addressed. The individual should also form or create the solution. Women have formally good opportunities to make careers in the armed forces. Career development, however, is perceived as too fast so that relevant knowledge and experiences are not obtained to the extent that is felt needed. In addition, women have challenges with their identity development where they are torn between not being too "feminine" but also not to "masculine". Therefore, they feel absence of achieving the expectations that are put on them or they choose to adopt a more "masculine" forms to adapt to the norm. Stereotypes and jargon thus affect women from a negative aspect of their work.