Lena Grip

The woman as problem and solution—analysis of a gender equality initiative within the Swedish Rescue Services

Abstract The aim of this article is to study how problem definitions of gender equality affect the possible outcomes of gender equality initiatives. The Swedish Municipal Rescue Services were chosen as the empirical example because they offer a workplace where women are greatly under-represented despite years of gender equality efforts. The article analyses how reasoning around gender equality shapes and constructs problem formulations around gender and equality. This article contributes to the debate on the conditions of gender equality founded on gender equality definitions, and how this relates to the potential for change. The gender equality efforts within the Rescue Services are problematized based on Bacchi’s policy analysis model. We do so by analysing the applications attracted by a call for a gender equality initiative within the Municipal Rescue Services—A Fire Station for Everyone. The article argues that, to some extent, the problem definitions in this case undermine gender equality initiatives as they place women—whom they wish to recruit to the Rescue Services to make it more gender equal in a numerical sense—in a paradoxical position as both problem and solution. Nor do they problematize power issues. It is stated that the given problem descriptions do not leave a lot of room for change, but that the method used to analyse the problem descriptions can be an important tool for understanding why gender equality initiatives may struggle to achieve their intended objectives.