Throughout history women have been excluded from leading positions. Today, however, there is an equal gender distribution among Swedish managers, which by some is seen as a result of the Nordic model. Despite this, current statistics show that women tend to have a greater responsibility over child rearing and household duties. The aim of this study is to examine female leaders’ experiences of combining family and career, the challenges they face, and if these differ from male leaders. Previous research on women’s work commitment has shown that mothers are not less committed to their careers than women without children. At the same time other studies show that working mothers feel guilty over not being good enough parents. This study is based on eight qualitative interviews with female and male leaders in Sweden. The study shows that the female participants face challenges to their careers because of traditional gender norms, however these norms do not disfavour the male participants. This study also illustrates that the female subjects meet greater expectations both in their roles as leaders as well as in their roles as parents. Gender norms regarding motherhood result in that the women are made to feel guilty if traditional expectations go unmet. This is not something experienced by any of the male participants.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:oru-73021 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Bjurén, Isa, Blomberg, Elin |
| Publisher | Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap, Örebro universitet, Institutionen för humaniora, utbildnings- och samhällsvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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