Making equality work : Ambiguities, conflicts and change agents in the implementation of equality policies in public sector organisations

Abstract

The overall aim of this study is to contribute to knowledge about the implementation of equality policies in public sector organisations. This is achieved through the development of a theoretical framework of feminist implementation studies. It involves the study of influential factors that impact upon the implementation process, with the aim of contributing to an understanding of the outcome of implementation processes within the equality policy field. The methodology used is based on qualitative case study research combined with a meta-analysis that allows for comparisons across cases. Four initiatives in the implementation of gender mainstreaming strategy were studied in different contexts, namely, two local municipalities and one government agency in Sweden. The main questions asked are: How was gender mainstreaming implemented? What were the main factors influencing the implementation process and why? What was the impact of change actors working to implement gender mainstreaming? The case studies were conducted using an interactive research approach where the different dilemmas encountered by the gender mainstreaming practitioners are used as a starting point for developing a joint learning process. The thesis comprises an introduction and five published papers. The main findings of the study include how the implementation process developed over time and the impact of the micropractices of the “gender mainstreamers” involved. The study provides insights into the factors influencing the implementation process, and how these factors change over time. Different types and levels of conflict, together and interlinked with different ambiguities, affect the practical work where dilemmas inherent in the concepts of “gender”, “equality” and “change” become central. Overall, the study shows how the specific preconditions for implementation of gender mainstreaming make the local arenas of implementation crucial for understanding the outcomes.Syftet med avhandlingen är att bidra till kunskapen om implementeringen av jämlikhetsstrategier i offentliga organisationer. Detta görs genom utvecklingen av ett teoretiskt ramverk för implementeringsstudier med ett feministiskt perspektiv. För att bidra till en ökad förståelse av de resultat som nås inom jämlikhetspolitiken studeras faktorer som påverkar implementeringsprocessen. Studien är baserad på kvalitativa fallstudier och en meta-analys som möjliggör jämförelser mellan fallstudierna. Fyra olika fall av implementering av jämställdhetsintegreringsstrategin har studerats utifrån olika kontexter; i två svenska kommuner och en statlig myndighet. Avhandlingens huvudsakliga frågeställningar är: Hur implementerades jämställdhetsintegreringsstrategin? Vilka var de huvudsakliga faktorer som påverkade implementeringsprocessen och varför? Hur påverkades processen av de förändringsaktörer som arbetade med att implementera strategin? Fallstudierna har genomförts med en interaktiv forskningsansats i vilken olika dilemman i det praktiska arbetet har använts som utgångspunkt för en gemensam...

The opaque gendered lens – barriers to recruitment and career development

“…The interviews were transcribed verbatim. The two research projects can be described as having a multiple case-study research design (Yin, 1994) which gives the opportunity for a nonlinear research process (Callerstig, 2014). This method helps to develop the research project in line with both a conceptual theoretical framework (feminist theory) and inductive, qualitative empirical generated data.…”

“…There are still no signs of senior management teams in global organizations being gender equal or that women are equally accounted for in CEO positions (Kiaye and Singh, 2013;Kunze and Thorburn, 2014;Joshi et al, 2015). The search for global leadership talent and the need to develop internal processes to identify and develop employees to become tomorrow's leaders is a growing demand (Chambers et al, 1998;Mäkelä et al, 2010;Schuler et al, 2011;Dragoni et al, 2009;Tienari et al, 2013;Gladwell, 2002). With increased global competition and an expanding number of small-and medium-sized companies becoming global, the competition for young talent has increased (Scullion and Collings, 2011).…”

“…The empirical findings were analyzed using theories from feminist research on gender, organization and gender equality. This process of alternating between review of the findings and theory was a significant part of an abductive analysis process (Callerstig, 2014;Dubois and Gadde, 2002;Cowley and Heath, 2004). The feminist theories used in analyzing the empirical data were based on Acker's (1990) model of gendered organizations as well as more recent feminist research on gendered organizations and gendered leadership (Billing 2011;Gallant 2014;Holgersson, 2013;Liu et al, 2015;Rees and Garnsey, 2003).…”

Gender equalities work in health organisations in England

“…as more of a generic group if you're wanting to talk about men and women and disability and ethnicity and sexuality as a group of people, that's when it becomes a difficult issue, so I think people assume that when you're talking about gender, its just men and women." (Male Equalities Diversity and Human Rights Coordinator) While gender is a complex concept, what it means is often taken for granted in policy formulation, and the policy problem is represented in a limited and individualised fashion, as the need to offer women or men specific services for example (Callerstig, 2014;Bacchi, 1999).…”

“…Policy implementation is an important aspect of the policy process in relation to the success and failures of gender mainstreaming, but has less often been addressed from a feminist perspective (Callerstig, 2014). This paper explores the idea that what we might call the 'policy implementation gap' (Exworthy et al, 2002) helps to explain the limited progress that has been made by gender equality strategies.…”