Britt-Inger Keisu

Administrators or Critical Cynics? A Study of Gender Equality Workers in Swedish Higher Education

Gender equality workers have to perform a balancing act between feminist ideals for change and neo-liberal management trends. So-called audit discourses have gradually been introduced into Swedish universities, in line with an enterprise model. In this new context, the aim of our article is to investigate how gender equality workers at universities articulate gender equality and possibilities for change. What are their visions and strategies for achieving gender equality? This article is based on interviews with gender equality workers at three Swedish universities and explores how the legitimate gender equality worker is constructed. We found that there is a lack of visionary thinking among gender equality workers, which manifests itself in a sense that the distinction between visions and strategies has collapsed and technologies like auditing have become the vision. It seems that, whilst navigating between liberal feminist discourses and an increasingly neo-liberal setting, two positions are available for gender equality workers. The first is the “administrator”, who asks for more tools and monitoring of gender equality, in order for the work to become more efficient and legitimate. The second position, the “critical cynic”, makes scepticism and resistance to the increasing bureaucratization of gender equality work possible, but lacks alternative visions and strategies. Gender equality initiatives have thus become increasingly embedded in auditing technologies, and the possibilities for articulating alternatives or visionary ideals, beyond liberal values of anti-discrimination, seem limited.

Constructions of innovation and gender (equality) in Swedish universities

Purpose – This paper utilizes the concept of innovation as a form of methodological starting-point in order to analyse the gendered meanings of marketization in Swedish universities. The purpose of the paper is to scrutinize how the concept of innovation is produced in Swedish universities, and how these versions of innovation are gendered and related to different understandings of gender equality. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis departs from a critical perspective to studies of gender equality and is anchored in a critical policy analysis approach – the “whats the problem represented to be? Approach” developed by Bacchi. This approach is used in the analysis of interviews with top-level leaders at two Swedish universities and how they perceive innovation. The results are related to a governmentality framework in order to explain the gendered innovation discourse in academia. Findings – One of the main results is that innovation is represented in a broad way when discussed at a more abstract l...

Adaption or recognition of the autistic subject? - reimagining an autistic work life : deconstructing the notion of ‘real jobs’ within the Swedish neurodiverse movement

Several researchers stress the importance of listening to autistic adults’ own experiences of work and related issues.This paper critically explores an ambivalent discourse of empowerment using not ...

Dignity: a prerequisite for attractive work in elderly care

ABSTRACT This article explores discourses of new public management (NPM) and dignity at work by considering how attractive work is represented by managers and professionals in Swedish elderly care. The analysis, guided by critical discursive psychology, uses qualitative interviews with 31 managers, nurses, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists at nine workplaces. Three storylines of how attractive work is represented were identified: salary and status, high-quality care, and working conditions and competence. These storylines revealed two strategies by which dignity is attained and defended: strategies of resistance and strategies of organizational citizenship. A conclusion is that identity, power, and position are key aspects for interpreting how managers and professionals navigate between discourses of dignity. Work in elderly care is under pressure from the major shift towards neoliberalism and the techniques of NPM. Discourses upholding NPM are present to only a limited extent, whilst discourses rejecting NPM principles and safeguarding dignity at work and dignity as care providers constitute the basis of the representations. Hence, another conclusion is that the consequences of NPM undermine prior conceptions of the importance of care work. Although dignity at work appears to be a prerequisite for attractive work, it may be an unattainable goal for organizations.

Team social cohesion, professionalism, and patient-centeredness: Gendered care work, with special reference to elderly care – a mixed methods study

BackgroundHealthcare organisations are facing large demands in recruiting employees with adequate competency to care for the increasing numbers of elderly. High degrees of turnover and dissatisfaction with working conditions are common. The gendered notion of care work as ‘women’s work’, in combination with low salaries and status, may contribute to negative work experiences. There is abundant information about the negative aspects of elderly care health services, but little is known about positive aspects of this work. The study aim was to investigate work satisfaction from a gender perspective among Swedish registered nurses, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists, focusing specifically on healthcare services for the elderly.MethodsA mixed methods approach was adopted in which we combined statistics and open-ended responses from a national survey with qualitative research interviews with healthcare professionals in elderly care organisations. The survey was administered to a random sample of 1578 registered nurses, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists. Qualitative interviews with 17 professionals were conducted in six elderly care facilities. Qualitative and quantitative content analyses, chi2 and constructivist grounded theory were used to analyse the data.ResultsThere was a statistically significant difference in overall work satisfaction between those who worked in elderly care and those who did not (64 and 74,4% respectively, p <0.001). Nine themes were derived from open-ended responses in the questionnaire. The qualitative interviews revealed four prominent storylines: ‘Team social cohesion’, ‘Career development and autonomy’, ‘Client-centeredness’, and ‘Invisible and ignored power structures’.ConclusionsThe results show the complexity of elderly care work and describe several aspects that are important for work satisfaction among health professionals. The results reveal that work satisfaction is dependent on social interrelations and cohesion in the work team, in possibilities to use humour and to have fun together, and in the ability to work as professionals to provide client-centered elderly care. Power relations such as gendered hierarchies were less visible or even ignored aspects of work satisfaction. The storylines are clearly linked to the two central discourses of professionalism and gender equality.