Teaching in culturally heterogeneous classrooms presents both opportunities and pedagogical challenges, particularly when addressing sensitive issues such as racism, gender, religion, and normative assumptions. This booklet, developed within the Erasmus project BAGSKOL with support from EUniWell, explores strategies for handling these complexities in teacher education. Drawing on contributions from students, researchers, and educators across five European universities, it provides resources to foster culturally responsive and reflective practices. The aim is to inspire dialogue, deepen understanding, and strengthen inclusive and democratic values within higher education and teacher training.

Föreliggande antologi behandlar mångfald, flerspråkighet och interkulturella perspektiv. Författarna till kapitlen förstår och förhåller sig på olika sätt till begreppet “interkulturalitet” och ett av antologins syften är att visa på vikten och bredden i den forskning som brukar förknippas med interkulturella perspektiv, flerspråkighet och mångfald inom skola och utbildning. Antologin binder samman och exemplifierar den mångfacetterade forskning som bedrivs på Linnéuniversitetet idag. Vår förhoppning är att du som forskare, blivande, lärare, yrkesverksam lärare eller lärarutbildare ska läsa, reflektera över och kunna ha nytta av bidragen.

National policies used to advance gender equality in academic careers in higher education in Sweden, Norway, and Finland, are examined based on publicly available documents from 1990 to 2023. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from public policy research and feminist political theory, we investigate to what extent policies are likely to lead to organizational transformation, in line with the intentions of gender mainstreaming. The analysis maps the policy instruments according to their behavioral assumptions, as well as the type of gender equality strategy they entail. The analysis suggests that policies aiming at organizational transformation typically are associated with weak policy instruments where it is up to the individual institution to decide how to implement them. This makes policy instruments particularly sensitive to contestations over the prioritization of goals and power relations in the organization. The analysis suggests that gender mainstreaming policies lack sufficient constraint and/or accountability to lead consistently to organizational transformation.

Just 25 years ago, Europe was engaged in a process of democratization and integration.

The EU, with an expanded number of member-states, became a symbol of a

democratic, peaceful and prosperous Union. However, recent years have seen the

reversal of democratization in many of the countries that went through political

transition in the 1990s. Even in established democracies, growing authoritarian

tendencies have been apparent in the rise of populism and political polarisation and

questions over the rule of law.

Focusing on threats to Swedish liberal democracy in a time of autocratization to

explore wider crises democracy is currently facing around the globe, Problems in

Paradise? explores eight interactive sub-societies crucial for a dynamic and persistent

liberal democracy: the political, the judicial, the bureaucratic, the economic, the

educational, the media, the civil, and the international.

Fully embracing the wide range of challenges liberal democracy has faced in recent

years, this book offers a deepened understanding of contemporary changes and

challenges to liberal democracy.

Background

The share of women in top academic positions remains well below the threshold for gender balance in the Nordic countries [1]. This is the case even after a long history of progressive national legislation, universal systems for work–family reconciliation, laws that require employers to take proactive measures to improve the career opportunities of both women and men and comprehensive regulation directed towards the universities [2]. In this paper, we ask what Nordic higher education institutions have done at the institutional level to address gender inequalities in academic careers. Which measures have universities used to increase gender equality, and to what extent are the measures effective in increasing the share of women in top academic positions? This is the first study in the Nordic context that tries to assess which equality measures work, using quantitative methods.

Methods

Based on theories on actor-oriented and structure-oriented measures, we investigated the efficacy of gender equality policy measures in 37 universities in Sweden, Norway and Finland, implemented between 1995 and 2018 based on interviews with universities’ HR staff and equality officers. The study combines survey data and register data to assess the impact of institutional gender equality policies on the gender composition of academics in grade A positions. By combining unique survey data on universities’ equality policies and register data on universities’ teaching and research staff, we assess the impact of the policies on the gender composition of academics in grade A positions (e.g. professor positions). We distinguish between career-enhancing measures offered for women, training and awareness-raising measures, organisational responsibility measures and preferential treatment measures.

Results

Overall, we find that the use of equality measures has increased over time, but that equality measures seem to contribute relatively little to the overall share of women in grade A positions between 1995 and 2020. Using regression models with fixed effects and lagged information on the introduction of the various types of measures across the 37 institutions, we find that only the structural measures stand out as significantly associated with an increase in the share of women in grade A positions. In particular, having an equality officer or office and providing hiring support for recruitment of women seem to be positively associated with an increase in the share of women in grade A over time.

References

1.European Commission. SHE figures 2018. Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union; 2019 Mar.2.Lipinsky A. Gender equality policies in public research. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union; 2014.

Which gender equality measures do Nordic universities use, and to what extent are the measures effective in increasing the share of women in top academic positions? Based on theories that distinguish between actor and structure-oriented measures, and between strategies of inclusion and transformation, we identified four types of measures: career enhancing measures offered for women, training and awareness-raising measures, organizational responsibility measures and preferential treatment measures. We investigated the use and efficacy of the four types of policy measures in 37 universities in Sweden, Norway and Finland, implemented between 1995 and 2018. The policy data was collected through on structured interviews with universities’ HR staff and equality officers. By combining these unique survey data and register data on universities’ teaching and research staff we assess the impact of institutional gender equality policy on the gender composition of academics in grade A positions. We find strong growth in the use of organizational responsibility and awareness-raising measures over time, and weaker use of career enhancing measures and preferential treatment. Overall, the institutional measures have a limited effect on the growth in the share of women in grade A positions. Nonetheless, we find that the implementation of structural measures is associated with the growth of women in grade A positions.

 Gender inequalities persist among Swedish academic staff, and gender balance is especially skewed toward men in the most prestigious academic career positions, such as professorships. In this article, the measures used in Swedish universities to promote gender equality among academic staff are investigated and related to theories of gender. The study is based on interview survey data on gender and diversity policies from 14 Swedish universities with an actor–structure categorization of gender equality (GE) measures used in Sweden universities since 1990. This first comprehensive study of GE policy among Swedish universities provides unique data on what policies universities have in place and rejects the notion that individual measures are predominantly used to fight gender inequality. Universities mostly use structural measures to ‘fix’ the organization, but from this approach follows that those measures are often gender neutral and soft, indicating a strong belief in gender-neutral principles, and they might limit the effect of action.