Gender mainstreaming in practice : A street-level perspective on policy implementation in Swedish academia
Scheiber Gyllenspetz, Ann-Ida (2024)
Scheiber Gyllenspetz, Ann-Ida
2024
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe202402208005
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe202402208005
Tiivistelmä
Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to seek answers to how the implementation of the Swedish government policy Gender Mainstreaming in Academia turned out, six years after its introduction. I choose to approach this purpose from a public administration perspective, making this thesis a study of policy implementation in Swedish academia.
Theory We know from public administration literature that what determines policy are the things that civil servants working closest to citizens think and do when they implement policy. This is the theoretical foundations of this thesis, and why the focus of it is faculty, the street-level bureaucrats of the gender mainstreaming policy. The thesis covers literature on the professional identity of academics, empirical research on academics as street-level implementers, and previous empirical research on the Swedish gender mainstreaming policy.
Method I interview ten scholars from ten different disciplines, who work in two Swedish universities. The material is analyzed using an analytical tool to identify configurations of policy understanding, ability, willingness, and behavior.
Results I find that gender mainstreaming implementation happens when those who make sense of the policy, and who feel able and willing to implement, also does so. But I also find how faculty sometimes dislike government policy, or even gender mainstreaming specifically, but implement it anyways. Some have all the resources they need, but their principles are too important to them to implement gender mainstreaming. And despite all differences, I find how those who think the policy is unclear and toothless, who are too stressed to be able to implement, and who have strong reservations against the policy – and who do not view themselves as implementers – all engage in activities that are strikingly similar to gender mainstreaming implementation. Almost everywhere we look, we find people at the street-level of Swedish universities, working towards what they imagine is a better, and more gender equal academia.
Theory We know from public administration literature that what determines policy are the things that civil servants working closest to citizens think and do when they implement policy. This is the theoretical foundations of this thesis, and why the focus of it is faculty, the street-level bureaucrats of the gender mainstreaming policy. The thesis covers literature on the professional identity of academics, empirical research on academics as street-level implementers, and previous empirical research on the Swedish gender mainstreaming policy.
Method I interview ten scholars from ten different disciplines, who work in two Swedish universities. The material is analyzed using an analytical tool to identify configurations of policy understanding, ability, willingness, and behavior.
Results I find that gender mainstreaming implementation happens when those who make sense of the policy, and who feel able and willing to implement, also does so. But I also find how faculty sometimes dislike government policy, or even gender mainstreaming specifically, but implement it anyways. Some have all the resources they need, but their principles are too important to them to implement gender mainstreaming. And despite all differences, I find how those who think the policy is unclear and toothless, who are too stressed to be able to implement, and who have strong reservations against the policy – and who do not view themselves as implementers – all engage in activities that are strikingly similar to gender mainstreaming implementation. Almost everywhere we look, we find people at the street-level of Swedish universities, working towards what they imagine is a better, and more gender equal academia.