In the present study, the purpose is to present a pedagogical tool for sorting gender-related reasoning relevant to discussions about sexual harassment, as well as to highlight and clarify the pedagogical implications that a certain basic assumption entail. This pedagogical tool is applied to two female high school students’ stories of experiences of sexual harassment during their time in primary and secondary school. Three different explanation models are used in the analysis. These are named ‘with gender differences in focus’, ‘with the genderneutral individual in focus’ and ‘with gender norms in focus’. When gender differences are emphasized, the implication is that boys are ruled by their biology and therefore they cannot be responsible for their actions. If gender neutrality is stressed, the consequence is that sexual harassment cannot be linked to a specific gender. Instead, it is the specific situation or the individual that is the triggering factor. When gender norms are in focus, sexual harassment can be understood as something that young men in groups use to strengthens and affirm masculinity in a heteronormative order. Some of the explanation models may facilitate and others may complicate the work of counteracting sexual harassment.

In 1962 the Swedish Parliament decided on a school reform. Meritocracy and equal opportunity were important goals. However, these ideals were not applied to elementary school teacher education, where a sex quota policy favoured male applicants. In the Parliamentary debate, a woman member of the Right Wing Party raised objections to the policy. A man representative of the Social Democrat government's education politics had to explain why the admission policy that favoured men was not abolished. By evoking historical ideas of women teachers as inferior, and warnings of the feminisation of schools as a great threat, the admission rules were defended. Also, the analysis of the debate shows that women were supposed to hold back their individual rights and a woman arguing in favour of a gender neutral admission policy risked being labelled as “unwomanly”.

The preschool teacher is a profession that is highly associated with femininity, and a very large majority of staff in preschools are women. Due to the current high recruitment needs in Swedish preschools, SKL (the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions) has stated that it is important that both women and men see the preschool as a possible workplace for themselves. Therefore it might be worthwhile to take a look at the discussions that took place during the 1970s, being perhaps the period during which men in preschools were discussed the most. When the Swedish preschool was developing in the 1970s, it was a political aim to have both men and women work in the preschools. In order for more men to be admitted to preschool teacher education, a quota policy that favoured male applicants was introduced. The preschool teachers’ trade union, Sveriges Förskollärares Riksförbund (SFR) defended the quota policy and argued in support of it in the union journal Förskolan (The Preschool) for several years. In 1976 the organization changed its position and argued instead that the admissions policy should be abolished. This study investigates the discussions that were held in the union journal Förskolan, both for and against the quota procedure for preschool teacher education in the years 1971-1980. The research questions are as follows: What arguments were put forward in the discussions? In what way can these arguments be said to challenge or sustain the unequal relationship between women and men?

A qualitative analysis of the years 1970-1981 has been conducted. The journal in its entirety has been reviewed and analyzed for arguments, regardless of whether the statement came from the trade union, a letter to the editor, someone interviewed in a report, etc. Three arguments for the quota policy and two arguments against were found. An argument for the quota policy was, To achieve higher values, which meant a higher goal was assumed to be achieved by applying the quota measure. The higher values intended were a more even gender distribution, justice and a more versatile workforce. This reasoning was not specific to preschool teacher education, but could have been aimed at all education programmes that have an uneven gender distribution, both male-dominated and female-dominated. Another argument was, Compensation for the absence of men, which meant that the male preschool teachers would make up for the fathers who did not participate in their children's lives. The third argument was, Men are better preschool teachers than women, which meant that men were depicted as more committed and flexible workers. In some cases, the arguments can be linked to historical discussions about women and men and their place in society. An argument against the quota policy was, A gender quota policy sustains outdated attitudes, which meant that the expectations that gender role thinking within preschools would change, had not been fulfilled. The second argument against the quota policy was, Men and women should be admitted on equal terms, which meant that a female qualified applicant should not have to stand back for a less qualified man.

Only one of the arguments challenged the unequal relationship between women and men; Men and women should be admitted on equal terms. In the 1970s debate, it was not an uncommon premise that men would contribute something that the women lacked. They would take the place as men, not primarily as preschool teachers. Today, when preschool is facing major recruitment needs and SKL's ambition is to broaden recruitments, SKL emphasizes that it wants men to be recruited not so that they work in preschool to fulfill a specific ’male function’, rather gender should not be an obstacle.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a group of Swedish head teachers approaches the importance of gender issues in terms of their work. The empirical material is from so-called “research circles”, which were part of a gender equality project conducted in southern Sweden. A research circle is similar to a focus group interview. The group, which consists of eight women who were head teachers within compulsory education, met on six occasions. The results show that the women initially expressed strong hesitation about whether discussing gender issues in relation to the role of head teacher was beneficial at all. The entire gender equality project was called into question by the suggestion that the connection between head teacher and gender implied a weakening of women. However, examples of gender playing a role within educational settings were increasingly noted. By highlighting female head teachers’ ambivalence towards discussing issues related to gender and gender equality, this paper contributes to the discussion about why these issues do not occupy a stronger position within schools. Also, the female head teachers’ hesitation and ambivalence are connected to the decline in status of the head teacher profession due to the restructuring of education, for which women in educational leadership in Sweden have been blamed.

The purpose of this article is to elucidate how the girl who chooses technology came to be the symbol of the non‐traditional pupil's choice in Sweden. In the early 1960s it was hoped that girls would enter workshop training and then commit themselves to engineering mechanics jobs at a time when Sweden was characterised by economic growth which was expected to lead to labour shortage. However, the problems and the resistance against women in the workshops were rarely discussed. One possible explanation for not addressing the obstacles that the girls risked facing is that great hopes were attached to changing gender roles. The major school reform that was about to be launched was also expected to lead to more equal educational choices. In addition, girls' choices were associated with tradition and an outmoded society. The female mechanic or industrial worker came to be seen as a symbol of modern Sweden.

I det här kapitlet riktas intresset mot män i förskolan och deras minoritetsposition.Ett ofta beskrivet problem för dem som befinner sig iminoritet könsmässigt är att de möts av särskilda föreställningar ochförväntningar. För kvinnor i minoritetsposition innebär dessa föreställningarofta karriärmässiga hinder. För män i minoritetsposition hartvärtom fördelar i karriären beskrivits. Att vara man inom förskolaninnebär dock inte endast fördelar. Reaktionerna från förskolebarnensföräldrar kan vara blandade. Å ena sidan uttrycker många föräldraruppskattning. De tycker att det är roligt att män väljer förskollärarprofessionen.Å andra sidan förekommer även mer negativa reaktioner.Männen kan mötas av en misstro som utrycks öppet eller mer dolt. Detär således en ambivalent position som män inom förskolan kan hamnai. I det här kapitlet beskrivs hur blivande förskollärare, yrkesverksammaförskollärare samt förskolechefer resonerar om män i förskolan ochderas könsmässiga minoritetsposition. Jag ska beskriva de tankegångarsom kommer till uttryck, men också granska och analysera deantaganden som tankegångarna vilar på. Därmed är min avsikt att lyftafram och problematisera de resonemang och fraser som tenderar attupprepas när män i förskolan kommer på tal.

Många studier har rapporterat om att det har skett en förändring över tid när det gäller den fysiska kontakten mellan pedagoger och barn. I den här studien är syftet att undersöka hur erfarna förskollärare beskriver de historiska förändringar som skett under deras yrkesliv vad beträffar synen på fysisk kontakt mellan pedagoger och barn. Det empiriska materialet utgörs av  semistrukturerade intervjuer med 30 utbildade och erfarna förskollärare. Materialet har analyserats utifrån Becks teori om risksamhälle samt begreppen ”becoming” och ”being”. Resultatet visar att deltagarna ger uttryck för att synen har förändrats på fyra områden, vilka i sin tur påverkar hur fysisk kontakt mellan pedagoger och barn uppfattas. Dessa fyra områden är synen på barn, på förskollärarrollen, på manliga pedagoger samt på nakenhet. Att barnsynen och synen på förskolläraryrket har förändrats är väl känt, och kunskap om den historiska förändringen ingår i förskollärarutbildningen. Synen på manliga pedagoger ur ett historiskt perspektiv har behandlats i många studier. Förändring när det gäller synen på nakenhet har däremot diskuterats i mindre utsträckning. Sammantaget har förändrade synsätt inom alla fyra områden lett till en mer restriktiv hållning avseende fysisk kontakt. I värsta fall kan detta innebära att barns behov av fysisk kontakt och kroppslig närhet kommer i skymundan i förskolan. 

This is a qualitative study undertaken in a Swedish teacher education setting. The aim is to obtain data that can be helpful for teacher educators planning their teaching about gender equality policy. The assumptions which the students base their pre-understandings on are in focus. The empirical material consists of 105 student teachers’ descriptions of their associations with the term ‘gender equality’ [jämställdhet]. In the material, three competing discourses are found. One discourse is the discourse of the fair gender equality. Within this discourse, gender equality seems to be quite an uncomplicated issue. Gender equality is, or should be, something natural. A second discourse is the discourse of the exaggerated gender equality, linking gender equality to conflicts, aggression and excessive demands. A third discourse is the discourse of the opposed gender equality. Within this discourse, gender equality is described as a contested issue met with resistance and hostility. Being able to identify and examine these competing discourses may work as a first step in identifying assumptions that students hold about gender equality and gender issues.

Sedan slutet av 1960-talet har ett jämställdhetsmål varit inskrivet i grundskolans läroplan. Lärarutbildningen får dock återkommande kritik för brister när det gäller att förbereda blivande lärare på detta uppdrag (Kreitz-Sandberg 2013). Som Toohey (2002) framhåller har alla som undervisar god hjälp av att kartlägga sina studenters tidigare kunskaper och antaganden innan de planerar undervisningen. Studiens övergripande syfte är att få ett underlag som kan vara till hjälp för att planera undervisning om skolans jämställdhetsmål inom lärarutbildningen. De forskningsfrågor som vägleder studien är följande: Vilka diskurser 11 återkommer i lärarstudenters associationer till jämställdhet? Vilka antaganden rymmer dessa diskurser?

Diskursbegreppet utgår från socialkonstruktionismen som betonar att vi inte kan uppleva och skapa kunskap om omgivningen på annat sätt än genom de begrepp, kategorier och språk vi redan har. Vår kunskap om världen kommer därför alltid att vara tydligt beroende av den tid och kultur som vi lever i. Diskurser är ”socialt konstruerade betydelsesystem som kunde ha varit annorlunda” (Jørgensen & Phillips 2000 s 28). Laclau och Mouffe (2001) riktar fokus mot de sociala strider som pågår inom språket (Jfr Bakhtin 1999). Med diskursiv kamp avser de den strid som pågår om hur t.ex. ett begrepp ska förstås. I den här studien gäller den diskursiva kampen ”jämställdhet”.

Det empiriska materialet består av 105 lärarstudenters beskrivningar av vilka associationer som ”jämställdhet” väcker. I materialet framträder tre konkurrerande diskurser. En dominant diskurs i materialet är diskursen om den rättvisa jämställdheten. Jämställdhet är, eller borde vara, något självklart. Inom denna diskurs ter sig jämställdhet ofta som något okomplicerat. En andra diskurs är diskursen om den överdrivna jämställdheten som kopplar samman jämställdhet med konflikter, aggressivitet och överdrivna krav. En tredje diskurs är diskursen om den motarbetade jämställdheten där jämställdhet förstås som en känslig fråga som väcker motstånd. Att granska dessa konkurrerande diskurser kan ses som ett sätt att identifiera var studenterna befinner sig när det gäller jämställdhet och genusfrågor.

Bakhtin, M., M. (1999). The problem of speech genres. In: A. Jaworski & N. Coupland. The Discourse Reader. London: Routledge. Jørgensen Winther M. & Phillips, L. (2000) Diskursanalys som teori och metod. Lund: Studentlitteratur Kreitz-Sandberg, S. (2013). Gender inclusion and horizontal gender segregation: stakeholders' strategies and dilemmas in Swedish teachers' education. Gender and Education. Volume 25, Issue 4, pages 444-465. Laclau, E. & Mouffe, C. (2001). Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Towards a radical democratic politics. London: Verso. Toohey, S. (2002). Designing courses for higher education. Buckingham. Open University Press.

In Sweden, as in many countries before Sweden, boys’ academic achievements are getting considerable attention as the big gender issue. The Swedish gender equality policy that was put on the agenda in the 1970s is now associated with extreme discussions. This study aims to explore how gender equality was discussed in the 1970s, in connection with work on a forthcoming curriculum. The empirical material examined consists of the preparatory work for the Swedish comprehensive school National Curriculum, LGR 80 and the publication Lärartidningen [Teachers’ Journal]. In the material, the gender inequality problem was first and foremost discussed in terms of sex-role values that led to sex-linked choices of education and jobs. Hopes that girls would turn to technical education and technical career choices were highly connected to the issue of equality between the sexes. Attention was occasionally drawn to women’s second-rate position in society, but mainly the problem of gender inequality was considered to be pupils’ attitudes rather than structures and strong cultural norms. Through information and sex-mixed classes the problem would be solved. Thus, in the material examined the gender discussions were rather superficial.

A historical perspective may provide important insights for understanding contemporary discussions and the expectations attached to women and men in today’s teaching. The role of gendered meanings in relation to teachers’ work is explored in this article by focusing on discussions on school discipline during the period 19601970. Teachers’ Journal, a Swedish weekly union publication, is examined. The findings show that in the 1960s it was still possible for a male teacher to position himself as a ‘real man’ by defending corporal punishment. Further, the stereotype of a bad mother was taken up in the discussions. Discipline problems were connected to pupils not properly cared for by their mothers. Bad mothers were depicted as either lazy, overprotective or working women. In contrast, femininity, motherhood and paid work were linked in the caring female teacher. In the final section, the relevance of the findings for the present is discussed.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate how preschool teachers see their interaction with the home. The empirical material consists of semi-structured interviews with 30 qualified preschool teachers working in Swedish preschools. The informants describe how they promote cooperation and prevent conflict by clarifying that parents’ comments are welcome. They also try to grant parents’ requests regarding their own children; however, the informants also speak about parents having views about what should happen with the whole group and how the teachers should carry out their job, such as parents telling the preschool teachers whether they should hold their activities indoors or outdoors. Highly educated and well-off parents can express comments and demands in a way as if they want to decide how the work in the preschool is planned and carried out. A contrasting challenge is when parents with a non-Swedish background have language difficulties that can hinder cooperation.

Sweden has a reputation as a country with a relatively high level of gender equality. Nevertheless, both the labour market and vocational training programmes in upper secondary school are highly segregated along gender lines. The present ethnographic study concerns the minority position and professional socialisation of male students taking part in a health and social care programme in upper secondary school in Sweden. In addition to observations, students, health and social care teachers and internship supervisors were interviewed. The study revealed that it was taken for granted that men were considered particularly valuable. The male students universally and frankly described how they expected to receive preferential treatment in future employment situations. They showed no sign of finding this as being unjust to their female colleagues. Furthermore, the emphasis on male students’ gender entails the risk that they will be treated more as men than as the nursing assistants they are training to be, which may hamper their professional socialisation.

In many countries today, there is emphasis on teachers’ interaction with parents. Also, parents are expected to be involved in their children’s schooling. Teacher education, however,has been criticized for not preparing the prospective teachers sufficiently for the task. International studies have found on the one hand that digital technology facilitates teachers’communication with guardians, and on the other hand that communication via email risksleading to negative consequences. The aim of this study is to explore how the contact betweenhome and school is perceived from a group of Swedish teachers’ perspective. The empiricalmaterial consists of questionnaires directed to schoolteachers. In this paper, we analyse howteachers have answered open-ended questions posed in the questionnaire. The teachers reportthat it has become much more common for parents to contact them, in particular via email,and parents expect teachers to be available for them and respond quickly. The teachers try toestablish their own individual guidelines for how to handle parental contacts. Our conclusionis that collegial cooperation could facilitate the teachers’ tasks involving parents, and thatteacher education should address the issue of how to combine good working conditions witha professional approach and good relations with the parents

The Swedish preschool curriculum emphasises preschool teachers' task to stimulate children's interest in science and technology. Technology education, however, has not always had a given place in Swedish early childhood education, and this has been associated with female preschool teachers' fear of technology. This qualitative study explores how students training to be teachers in Swedish preschool view both the technology education they themselves received during their school days and their future task of teaching technology in preschool. The study's empirical material is an assignment that the students did within their Preschool Teacher Programme. Seventy-nine students, including 77 women and 2 men, described their experiences in writing. Many students describe a boring technology education which made them, as girls, feel marginalised. However, there were also those who felt quite at ease with their technology classes. Nevertheless, the students, regardless of their former experiences, have a positive attitude towards the task of teaching technology. Technology education in preschool is viewed as something quite different from the technology education they themselves had in school. The students stress that technology in early childhood education should be something that children and preschool teachers explore together.

Since 2022, all teachers in Sweden must use a norm aware approach. Regardless of whether the educationtakes place at school or at a workplace, it must develop the students' abilities to critically examine how norms,values and structures can limit the power of women and men in society (Skolverket, 2022). Developing norm-criticality is particularly important for vocational education, since workplace cultures shaped over time aremore difficult to change (Hedlin & Åberg, 2013; Hedlin, 2014). Norms become problematic when they excludecertain students and reinforce prejudices or discrimination (Kärnebro, 2020). Teachers often lack awareness ofnorms (Skolinspektionen, 2018) and may support problematic patterns (Kontio & Evaldsson, 2015). Teachersmust counteract norms and patterns that limit their students’ learning, choices, and development (Skolverket,2022). VET teachers’ norm awareness is in this sense crucial for their students’ Bildung. We see that there is aneed for a validated tool for measuring teachers’ norm awareness, both in VET learning contexts and otherschool contexts. The NORM-survey will also give insights into how this concept relates to issues of importancein schools today, e.g., equity, justice, and democracy, as well as teachers’ relational competence (Aspelin2018).The NORM-survey will be distributed to VET teachers at several educational institutions in Sweden and Finlandduring 2023. The survey consists of 59 variables in total written in Swedish. It is based on the operationalisationof norm awareness in six themes (Blomberg, 2020), structured in accordance with levels of knowledge: 1)Values and readiness to act, 2) Declarative knowledge of norm awareness, 3) Procedural knowledge about howto act in accordance with norm awareness, 4) Conditional knowledge of norm aware strategies for dealing withsituational needs, 5) Collegial awareness and openness, and 6) Collegial support to address norm-based issues.The construct validity of survey will be tested using two types of factor analysis: exploratory and confirmatory(Taherdoost, 2016) to see if and how predefined themes can be found and if these are consistent acrosseducational contexts. The first, exploratory factor analysis, will explore all variance in the data set. The second,confirmatory factor analysis, will show whether the hypothesized factor structure of the levels of knowledge issupported by actual data (de Vet, Adèr, Terwee & Pouwer, 2005). Both discriminant and convergent validitywill be tested (Taherdoost, 2016).

References

Aspelin, J. (2018). Lärares relationskompetens: vad är det?: hur kan den utvecklas? Liber.Blomberg, N. (2020). Skapa plats: en normutmanande bok för en mer inkluderande skola. Ekvalita, Finland.https://ekvalitaeducation.fi/sv/skapaplats/ [2023-02-14]de Vet, H.C.W., Adèr, H.J., Terwee, C.B., & Pouwer, F. (2005). Are factor analytical techniques used appropriately in thevalidation of health status questionnaires? A systematic review on the quality of factor analysis of the SF-36. Quality of LifeResearch, 14: 1203–1218. DOI 10.1007/s11136-004-5742-3.Hedlin, M. (2014). When they’re practically crying out for men – An ethnographic study of male health and social carestudents’ minority position. Nordic studies in education, 34(1), 59-72.Hedlin, M., & Åberg, M. (2013). Vara med i gänget? Yrkessocialisation och genus i två gymnasieprogram. Rapport 2013:23.Institutet för arbetsmarknads- och utbildningspolitisk utvärdering (IFAU).Kontio, J., & Evaldsson, A-C. (2015). “Last year we used to call it a Man’s Hammer.” (Un)doing masculinity in everyday use ofworking tools within vocational education. International Journal for Masculinity Studies, 10 (1), 20–38.Kärnebro, K. (2020). ”Om man inte står ut med att folk driver med en då passar man inte in” I A. Panican (Red.),Yrkesutbildning på undantag? Att bryta den låga attraktionskraften (s. 383–415). Studentlitteratur.Skolinspektionen. (2018). Sex- och samlevnadsundervisning. https://www.skolinspektionen.se/beslut-rapporter-statistik/publikationer/kvalitetsgranskning/2018/sex--och-samlevnadsundervisning/ [2023-02-07]Skolverket. (2022). Nytt i läroplanens inledande delar 2022. https://www.skolverket.se/undervisning/kallsidor/nytt-i-laroplanernas-inledande-delar-2022#skvtableofcontent4567 [2023-02-07]Taherdoost, H. (2016). Validity and Reliability of the Research Instrument; How to Test the Validation of aQuestionnaire/Survey in a Research. International Journal of Academic Research in Management, 5.

Syftet med studien är att utforska hur elever inom gymnasieskolans Vård- och omsorgsprogram uppfattar sexuella trakasserier som kan förekomma från vårdtagare samt bidra med kunskap som kan vara användbar i gymnasieskolans vård- och omsorgsutbildning. Studien bygger på fokusgruppsintervjuer med elever inom Vård- och omsorgsprogrammets tredje år. Eleverna beskriver en mängd situationer som i hög grad handlar om att manliga vårdtagare utsätter kvinnliga praktikanter och personal för sexuella trakasserier. En del av de män som utsätter personal för sexuella trakasserier har demensdiagnos, men eleverna beskriver också trakasserier från vårdtagare utan kognitiva nedsättningar, och även anhöriga, ägnar sig åt sexuella trakasserier. Av elevernas beskrivningar att döma framstår beteendet som normaliserat i vårdmiljön. Frågan behandlas sparsamt inom utbildningen, enligt de deltagande eleverna: varken lärarna, läroböckerna eller praktikplatserna tar enligt eleverna upp frågan om sexuella trakasserier från vårdtagare på ett tillfredsställande sätt.

Redan innan coronapandemin slog till 2020 hade besöksnäringen en utmaning att hitta personal. Idag 2022 vittnar många inom branschen att det är svårare än någonsin att hitta rätt kompetens. Besöksnäringen har stort behov av att uppfattas som attraktiv för såväl nya unga som för kunniga medarbetare med lång erfarenhet. 

Samtidigt har söktrycket på gymnasiets yrkesutbildningar som riktar in sig mot besöksnäringen minskat. Inför läsåret 2021/22 sökte 125 000 elever till ett nationellt gymnasieprogram. En dryg tredjedel (36 procent) sökte till ett yrkesprogram. 1 800 elever sökte till restaurang och livsmedel, 700 till hotell och turism. Det finns flera olika anledningar till ett vikande söktryck. Att utbildningarna inte gett högskolebehörighet är en. En annan kan vara att anställningar under coronapandemins två år uppfattades som osäkra och att arbetsuppgifterna förändrades med restaurangernas ansvar under restriktioner.  

Erfarenheter från unga som utbildar sig för ett arbete inom besöksnäringen kan bidra till bättre förståelse för både vad utbildningarna och företag som tar emot praktikanter (och även andra arbetsgivare inom näringen) kan förbättra för att bli en mer attraktiv bransch för unga (alla) människor. BFUF utlyste våren 2019 medel till forskning på temat Jämställdhet i besöksnäringen. 

Ett av forskningsprojektet som BFUFs styrelse beslutade finansiera 2019 var Social hållbarhet för framtida medarbetare inom hotell- och restaurang, som genomförts av forskare vid Linnéuniversitetet. Syftet med forskningsprojektet var att bidra med kunskap om hur elever inom gymnasieskolans hotell- och turismprogram och restaurang- och livsmedelsprogram förstår de sexuella trakasserier som kan förekomma från gäster inom de yrkesområden eleverna utbildar sig till samt att bidra med kunskap om hur utbildningarna kan arbeta för att förebygga problemet.  

Studien bygger på gruppintervjuer som genomförts 2021 med kvinnliga och manliga elever som gick det tredje och avslutande året på hotell- och turismprogrammet och restaurang- och livsmedelsprogrammet.

Projektets resultat visar att eleverna ger uttryck för att sexuella trakasserier från gäster är vanligt förekommande inom hotell- och restaurangbranschen. Forskarna har tillsammans med lärare och elever på olika skolor diskuterat resultaten av intervjuerna och gemensamt arbetat fram förslag på hur utbildningarna kan arbeta för att förebygga problemet. I rapporten MAN BLIR PAFF summeras deras resultat och rekommendationer. 

För att uppfattas som en attraktiv bransch att arbeta och göra karriär i är det av stor vikt att besöksnäringens företag och organisationer aktivt adresserar frågor om anständighet och värdighet inom branschen. Jämställdhet är en fråga om rättvisa som också påverkar företagens lönsamhet. Forskning pekar på att ett jämställt arbetsklimat är mer produktivt och ger mer nöjda medarbetare. Detta leder till lägre personalomsättning och lägre sjukfrånvaro, vilket gör företagen mer lönsamma.

Jämställdhet och att motverka sexuella trakasserier är strategiskt viktiga frågor både för företagen och besöksnäringen som bransch.   

This study’s purpose is to contribute knowledge which can be used as a basis for vocational teachers in hospitality when they discuss sexual harassment with their students. We therefore explore how students in training for vocations in the hospitality industry explain why some guests subject staff to sexual harassment. The empirical material consists of focus group interviews with students in the Swedish Hotel and Tourism programme and the Restaurant Management and Food programme. Twenty-two focus group interviews were conducted, 2–8 students participated in each group. The interviews took place in ten different municipalities in southern Sweden. The students’ explanations are that the sexual harassment is an issue linked to the generation, an issue of information, an issue of personality, an issue related to alcohol, an issue to do with male nature, and an issue of guests taking advantage of their status. These different explanations are linked to overarching discourses. Several of these are historical discourses that have been repeated for a long time. For teachers in the hospitality vocational education programmes a pedagogical point can be to highlight all the explanations and discourses in order to examine together with the students the assumptions on which their explanations rest.

Sexual harassment by guests is part of the vocational culture in many workplaces within the hospitality industry. In this study, we investigate vocational students' descriptions of sexual harassment by guests in the hospitality industry and how these instances can be understood in terms of objectification. The empirical material consists of focus group interviews with upper secondary school students who are training to work in the hospitality industry. The students describe four categories of sexual harassment: appearance comments, private and intrusive questions, leering, and physical contact. In the descriptions, men are sexually harassing female students or employees. The types of objectification in the descriptions are reduction to appearance, reduction to body, instrumental approach, denial of autonomy, denial of bodily integrity, and denial of subjectivity. Regardless of the type of objectification involved, a dilemma arises for the girls who have been taught that being courteous to guests is part of the professional role, while the guests are treating them as sexual objects.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and analyse how young people's perceptions of sexual harassment and unwelcome flirting from customers in the hospitality industry are affected by the customer's age. Sixty-nine young women and men training for occupations in the hospitality industry were interviewed. The young people were 18-20 years old. The results show that the customer's age was crucial for how the participants perceived unwelcome sexual interest and advances. If the person who offends was a child, the behaviour could be described as harmless, innocent and thus not as sexual harassment. Unwelcome flirting by a young man towards a young woman of the same age could be perceived as sexual harassment, but at the same time it is in line with the heteronormative ideal and could be understood. When the customer was older, that is, a middle-aged man, the young people's descriptions of the occurrence were particularly negative.

Research topic/aim: This study investigates how students training for jobs in the hospitality industry describe guests that subject staff to sexualharassment. The research question that guides the study is: Who are the guests who expose staff in the hospitality industryto sexual harassment, according to the students?

Theoretical framework: Sexual harassment is a widespread problem that occurs worldwide. It is mainly women who are subjected and most often it is men who subject them (Latcheva 2017; Svensson 2020). Young women employed in the hospitality industry have beenidentified as particularly vulnerable, those who target them are mainly male guests (Svensson 2020). Drawing on genderstudies, sexual harassment that men subject women to can be understood as an expression of the unequal gender order thatprevails in society (Connell 2009). Nowadays, however, there is a widespread belief that gender equality has been achieved.A post-feminist discourse that asserts that gender inequality belongs to the past. Thus, society is presented as genderneutral. Neither gender, class nor other factors are said to play any role in a person's opportunities and future livingconditions. Within the post-feminist discourse, the individuals are seen as responsible for both their successes and failures.Referring to things like inequality, gender discrimination and gender-based violence is therefore not possible (McRobbie2010; Pomerantz & Raby 2017). The discourse is closely linked to neoliberal ideology and has gained a prominent position within the Western world, not least within the Nordic countries, which are also often highlighted as successful examples whenit comes to gender equality (Magnusson et al. 2008). On the one hand, sexual harassment that male guests subject femaleemployees to in hotels and restaurants is extensive and well known. On the other hand, the post-feminist discourseconstitutes an obstacle to understanding sexual harassment as an expression of gender inequality.

Methodological design: The empirical material consists of focus group interviews (2-8 participants) with female and male students at the Hotel andtourism- and the Restaurant Management and food program in Sweden.

Expected conclusions/findings: The results show that the guests that the students highlight as the people who expose staff to sexual harassment are primarydescribed as older men [“gubbar”]. In the case of this group, the descriptions are particularly negative and the concretesituations numerous. According to the students, sexual harassment also occurs from boys their own age. In addition, it isemphasized that women can also subject men to sexual harassment, which, however, appears to be more hypothetical andcontradictory.

Relevance to Nordic educational research: All the Nordic countries want to counter sexual harassment in schools and education. Research has, however, shown thenotion that gender equality has been achieved as an obstacle to understanding gender issues (Lahelma 2012; Magnusson etal. 2008; Svensson 2020).