This essay provides some insight into how the representation of masculinity, homosocial bonds and homosexuality in two novels has changed during the last century. The essay analyzes the novels, Maurice (E.M Forster) and Dream Boy (Jim Grimsley). The main focus lies on how Maurice and Dream Boy handle certain topics; social behavior in private and public among the male protagonists and the role of the father figure. The essay points out similarities and differences between how each topic is being handled in the respective novels. The main theoretical concept focuses on masculinity, homosocial bonds and the perception of homosexuality and how it is constructed in the two novels. The representations of masculinity seem to change over time only to take the same shape as before. The same kinds of masculinities are represented in both Maurice and Dream Boy. The fact that young men have learned that their bodies can be used as instruments of power makes it difficult for them to allow intimacy within homophobic cultures which might threaten their male identities and therefore influence the way their homosocial bonds.

Background and problem:Theory and literature in the field of board recruitment are limited. The theory and literature that existed focused primarily on the recruitment of senior management and CEO. It was identified that no one had examined the factors that influence the recruitment of board members. The underlying factors might cause the board recruitment is not done from a purely efficiency perspective and therefore it is of interest to be examined. Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to examine and give an insight into the underlying factors affecting the choice of new directors in large Swedish companies. Method:The thesis has had a deductive approach and been based on existing theory and literature to explain the factors that affect board recruitment. The study was quantitative and the sample consisted of all the major Swedish listed companies. Results and conclusions:The survey indicated that board members ethnicity and number of other board assignments were factors that influenced the board recruitment. The empirical results showed that these two factors had positive significant correlations with the survey and are therefore factors affecting that the board recruitment might not be done out of a purely efficiency perspective. Proposals for future research:Future research could conduct a qualitative study in which the backgrounds to the ethnic reproduction are studied in order to identify the underlying factors that may explain the phenomenon. Future research may also conduct surveys concerning the Board members' personal relationships with each other to create an understanding of network effects. A similar study for smaller firms to explore the differences between the companies' size and their board recruitment can also be performed.

Uppsatsen analyserar huruvida rekryterings- och befordringsförfaranden som tillämpas inom ett logistik- och postföretag har betydelse för könsfördelningen på olika befattningsnivåer. Studiens frågeställningar är: Vilka rekryteringsförfaranden tillämpas inom organisationen? Kan rekryteringsförfaranden förklara hur en könsfördelning skapas och återskapas, i så fall på vilket sätt? De teoretiska utgångspunkterna behandlar i huvudsak utbuds- och efterfrågerelaterade förklaringar, samt olika rekryteringspraxis. Avsikten var att genom en jämförande fallstudie, mellan kontor med jämn respektive ojämn könsfördelning, analysera huruvida rekryterings- och befordringsförfarande kan förklara en ojämn könsfördelning.  Empirin inhämtades genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra enhetschefer och två regionchefer. Följaktligen analyserades materialet genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultaten tyder på att användning av informella informationskanaler, exempelvis rekommendationer, kan leda till skapande av en ojämn könsfördelning. Resultaten pekar även på att en ojämn könsfördelning på en lägre organisatorisk nivå tenderar att skapa en ojämn könsfördelning på högre nivåer genom internrekrytering. Sammantaget är slutsatserna att en ojämn könsfördelning i synnerhet skapas när enhetschefer 1) rekryterar genom homogena sociala nätverk och 2) lägger stor vikt vid medarbetares demografiska likheter. Vidare är slutsatserna att 3) en jämn könsfördelning på en lägre organisatorisk nivå, kan ses som en viktig faktor för en jämn könsfördelning på en högre nivå och 4) redan kvinno- eller mansdominerade positioner återskapas genom att attrahera personer av samma kön.

Wine & Beer tells the story of childhood friends Brian and Vic who, after spending some time apart, deal with the tensions of sexual orientation after they attempt to renew their friendship. At the beginning it seems that Vic's sexuality will not be a problem, but after the two friends hang out in a local bar, Brian realizes his hometown is not as tolerant as he is. The couple is faced with family and social concerns, which goes from the argumentative to the violent. As the main characters try to mingle with the conservative town, they soon find themselves looked upon by a small town resistant to change. This 35-minute film explores homophobia and violence in small town USA.

Bakgrund: Enligt regeringens jämställdhetsmål uppnår organisationer jämställdhet i styrelser om män respektive kvinnors representation överstiger 40% (Englund, 2019). Begreppet jämställdhet innebär att kvinnor och män ska ges samma förutsättningar avseende rättigheter, skyldigheter och möjligheter (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten, 2019). Sverige uppvisar en positiv jämställdhetsutveckling avseende dess styrelser samtidigt som svenska valberedningar endast uppvisar små förändringar avseende dess könsfördelning. Det fenomen som preliminär statistik uppvisar bidrar med intressanta avvikelser från vad tidigare studier inom forskningsområdet antyder och vad homosocial reproduktion förespråkar.  Syfte: Studiens syfte är att förklara i vilken utsträckning andelen kvinnor i svenska styrelser påverkas av valberedningars sammansättning och struktur. Metod: Studien har en deduktiv forskningsansats där tre olika teorier ligger till grund för de hypoteser som formulerats och sedan testats. De teorier som ligger till grund för uppsatsens hypoteser är homosocial reproduktion, institutionell teori och den resursberonde teorin. Studiens hypoteser har testats med hjälp utav Ordinary Least Square regressionsmetod där urvalet omfattade 76 bolag på Stockholmsbörsen och dess respektive valberedare under en tidsperiod motsvarande fem år. Den forskningsstrategi som använts är således en longitudinell design.   Slutsatser: Det råder en negativ relation mellan andelen män i valberedningar och andelen kvinnor i svenska styrelser. Homosocial reproduktion existerar därmed vid styrelserekrytering i Sverige och dess påverkan på andelen kvinnor i svenska styrelser tenderar att variera över tiden. De faktorer i valberedningars sammansättning och struktur som har en påverkan på andelen kvinnor i svenska styrelser är: medelåldern på valberedare, valberedares varaktighet och andelen män i valberedningar. Vidare påverkas även andelen kvinnor i svenska styrelser av: organisationers storlek och branschen företaget verkar inom. / Background: According to the government's gender equality goal, organizations achieve gender equality in boards if men's and women's representation exceeds 40% (Englund, 2019). The concept of equality means that women and men should be given the same conditions regarding rights, obligations and opportunities (Jämställdhetsmyndigheten, 2019). Sweden shows a positive trend in gender equality with regard to its boards, while Swedish nomination committees only show minor changes regarding its gender distribution. The phenomenon that preliminary statistics show contributes to interesting deviations from what previous studies in the research area suggest and what homosocial reproduction suggests. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to explain to what extent the proportion of women in Swedish boards is affected by the composition and structure of the nomination committees.  Method: This paper has a deductive research where three different theories was used to develop hypotheses which then was tested. The theories that underline the study’s hypotheses are homosocial reproduction, institutional theory and the resource-dependence theory. The study’s hypotheses have been tested using Ordinary Least Square regression method where the sample included 76 companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and specific information regarding each nominator in their nomination committee for a period of five years. The research strategy used is a longitudinal design.  Conclusions: There is a negative relationship between the proportion of men in nomination committees and the proportion of women in Swedish boards. Homosocial reproduction exists in the recruitment of board members in Sweden and its impact on the proportion of women in Swedish boards tends to vary over time. The factors in the composition and structure of the nomination committees that have an impact on the proportion of women on Swedish boards are: the average age of the nomination committee, the duration of the nominators in the nomination committee and the proportion of men in nomination committees. Furthermore, the proportion of women in Swedish boards is also affected by: the size of organizations and the industry the company operates in.

Often overlooked in the study of nineteenth-century American literature, the New England writer Rose Terry Cooke elicited great popular appeal during the peak of her career. The admiration Cooke received from her readers and fellow writers compels one to question Cooke’s present-day obscurity. Cooke’s fiction and poetry seem inconsistent with the attitudes she express in her non-fiction, particularly concerning religion and women’s suffrage. She portrays women in miserable marriages, desperately looking for an escape. These “brides of Bluebeard” find different ways to cope with their predicament. While most never truly escape, many use (1) religious devotion, (2) masochism, and (3) homosocial relations as “coping mechanisms” in their plight. I identify each of these reactions to Bluebeard figures in Cooke’s writing in order to understand the contradictions in her works, for, like Cooke, these brides were products of their culture, torn between duty to self and duty to others.

There are more men than women who hold managerial positions in the Swedish labor market. Leadership has historically been associated with masculinity. Previous research has shown that, as a consequence female managers in male-dominated industries need to display masculine attributes in order to be accepted as leaders. The automotive industry is an excellent case of such an industry, while research has shown that the car is strongly associated with masculinity. Therefore, we will use the automotive industry as our area of study. The purpose of the study is to investigate the opportunities and challenges that female managers face in the industry, as well as their experience of the social climate. To collect empirical data, we used semi-structured interviews with some of the most powerful female managers in the Swedish automotive industry. The result is analyzed based on West and Zimmerman’s “Doing gender” theory, and Goffman's dramaturgical perspective and his concepts of facade and regions. The result is also analyzed based on Kanter's frequency structure and her concept of homosocial reproduction. The study's results show that challenges in the female managerial role can include expectations, homosocial reproduction, and affirmative actions. The result also shows that affirmative actions can create opportunities. Other opportunities the female managers face are visibility and the potential to introduce soft values in the automotive industry. Finally, the study shows that the social climate in the automotive industry has changed over the years. / Det är betydligt fler män än kvinnor som besitter chefspositioner på den svenska arbetsmarknaden och ledarskap har historiskt associerats med maskulinitet. Tidigare forskning belyser att en följd av detta har blivit att kvinnliga chefer inom mansdominerade branscher behöver uppvisa maskulina attribut för att bli accepterade som ledare. Forskning belyser även att bilen ses som en maskulin teknologi. Därför anser vi det intressant att ha motorbranschen som studieområde. Syftet med studien är att undersöka vilka möjligheter och utmaningar kvinnliga chefer inom motorbranschen upplever, samt deras upplevelse av det sociala klimatet. För att samla in empiri genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med de mäktigaste kvinnliga cheferna inom motorbranschen. Resultatet analyseras utifrån teorin Doing gender, Goffmans Dramaturgiska perspektiv och hans begrepp fasad och regioner, samt Kanters frekvensstruktur och begreppet homosocial reproduktion. Studiens resultat belyser att utmaningar i den kvinnliga chefsrollen bland annat kan vara förväntningar, homosocial reproduktion och kvotering. Ett annat resultat är att kvotering kan skapa möjligheter. Andra möjligheter de kvinnliga cheferna möter är synlighet och potentialen till att implementera mjuka värden i motorbranschen. Slutligen kommer studien fram till att det sociala klimatet inom motorbranschen har förändrats genom åren.

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