Session Information
23 SES 04 A, Education, Social Inequalities and Gender I
Paper Session
Contribution
Gender relations are constructed permanently as interactive and pre-reflexive. As several studies have indicated doing gender is deeply incorporated inside individuals and organisations (West/Zimmermann, 1991; Bourdieu, 1998; Acker, 1991; Gofmann, 2001). Studies in many West-European countries, as for example Germany, led to an insight that, contrary to the basic principle of equal treatment, schools tend to reproduce lasting inequalities between the sexes (Enders-Dragässer/ Fuchs, 1989; Flaake, 1989; Council of Europe, 2007). In as far as this is true schools are social institutions which support the hierarchical relationship between the sexes with the male dominance and the subordination of women. This process takes place at various levels, for instance in interaction between the students, between members of the teaching staff, or between students and teachers. It is to be found in how individual subjects are structured and taught, and not least in curriculum guidelines, as well as the organisation and general development of the school. At the same time schools as institutions holda great potential for change in existing gender-based organisation. With the implementation of Gender Mainstreaming as a general principle throughout the European Union (Treaty of Amsterdam, 1999) a gender perspective must be adopted by regular staff. The objective is the equal status of women and men. Gender Mainstreaming is a process of getting there. It is a strategy which obliges everybody involved in processes of political decision-making to apply gender-related and gender-differentiated perspectives to all decisions, at all levels, as a matter of course. It contains a potential for political change. This is how the Council of Europe defines Gender Mainstreaming in its key paper from 1998 (Council of Europe, 1998, p.15). A gender perspective must be adopted by regular staff who in most cases will not be gender experts. Gender Mainstreaming does not focus on women, but on the relationship between women and men in order to strengthen the potential of achieving a gender equal society.The fact that in Sweden gender equality in schools has been an objective since the 1960s has been due to the strong women´s movement which have seen to it that gender equality is high on the public agenda. Since 1994 Gender Mainstreaming (jämställdhetsintegrering) is a declared public strategy in order to achieve the goal of gender equality. The research has been carried out in Sweden because this country has practical experience of implementation of Gender Mainstreaming in many areas, including that of education. Others may profit from analysing the experience gained by Swedes, where they have failed and where they have succeeded. However, there has been relatively little analysis of the process in schools. As part of a doctoral thesis the paper tries to help remedy this deficiency. Against the background of the cultural structure and the education policies of the country this paper examines a number of projects in the Swedish school system aiming at doing precisely this: Break the pattern! An assessment will be made as to what extent the strategy is used as a tool to achieve permanent results.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Acker, Joan. (1991). Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: a theory of gendered organizations. In: Judith Lorber & Susan F. Farrell (Hrsg.), The social construction of Gender. (S. 162-179) Newbury Park, London, New Delhi Bohnsack, Ralf; Marotzki, Winfried; Meuser, Michael (2004) Hauptbegriffe qualitativer Sozialforschung: ein Wörterbuch, Opladen Bourdieu, Pierre (2005) Die männliche Herrschaft, Frankfurt / Main Council of Europe (1998) Gender Mainstreaming, Conceptual framework, methodology and presentation of good practices, Final report of Activities of the Group of Specialists on Mainstreaming, Strasbourg Council of Europe (2007). Recommendation CM/Rec (2007) 13 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on gender mainstreaming in education Enders-Dragässer, Uta; Fuchs, Claudia (1989) Interaktionen der Geschlechter. Sexismusstrukture in der Schule, Weinheim Flaake, Karin (1989): Berufliche Orientierungen von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern: eine empirische Untersuchung, Frankfurt/M Glaser, Barney G.; Strauss, Anselm L., 2005 (1998): grounded theory. Strategien qualitativer Forschung, Bern Goffman, Erving. (2001). Interaktion und Geschlecht. Frankfurt, New York: Campus Verlag Hearn, Jeff/Holmgren, Linn E. (2006): Männliche Positionierungen zur Gleichstellung der Geschlechter und zum Feminismus. Theoretische Bezüge und praktische Passings. In: Feministische Studien 2/06, S.224-241. Höyng, Stephan/Lange, Ralf (2004): »Gender Mainstreaming – ein Ansatz zur Auflösung männerbündischer Arbeits- und Organisationskultur?« In: Michael Meuser/Claudia Neusüß, Gender Mainstreaming. Konzepte, Handlungsfelder, Instrumente, Berlin: Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, S. 103-119 . Meuser, Michael & Nagel, Ulrike. (2004). Das ExpertInneninterview: Zur Rekonstruktion spezialisierten Sonderwissens. In: Ruth Becker & Beate Kortendiek (Hrsg.), Handbuch Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung: Theorie. Methoden, Empirie (S. 368-371). Wiesbaden: Schmidt, Christiane (1997) „Am Material“: Auswertungstechniken für Leitfadeninterviews, in Friebertshäuser / Prengel: Handbuch. Qualitative Forschungsmethoden in der Erziehungswissenschaft, Weinheim, München Seemann, Malwine. (2009) Geschlechtergerechtigkeit in der Schule. Eine Studie zum Gender Mainstreaming in Schweden, Bielefeld West, Candace & Zimmermann, Don. (1991). Doing gender. In: Judith Lorber, & Susan A. Farell (Hrsg.), The social construction of Gender, Newbury Park / London / New Delhi, S. 13-37.
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