Equal Opportunities Work - Theories about Practice

The gender perspective and equal opportunities work
1. Introduction
This text is a study of the different relationships between gender research and
equal opportunities work in practice. At least at first glance it may seem
surprising that we would wish to examine the problem complex relating to
gender analysis and equal opportunities work, since from a historical point of
view gender research grew out of women's studies and research into equal
opportunities. However, development in both these disciplines has given rise to
a situation in which we must, in fact, re-examine the various ties that bind them.
The three standpoints expressed by the Swedish powers that be and described
below form the point of departure for this section:
1. The Swedish authorities maintain that gender research raises the quality
of all research, for two reasons: firstly because it expands perspectives in
scholarly research, contributes new knowledge, etc. and secondly because
gender research encourages equality of opportunity.le
2. The Swedish authorities maintain that encouraging coursework with a
gender perspective is one way of putting equal opportunities into practice. The
Higher Education Agency, for example, was commissioned by the government
to draw up courses relating to gender for the undergraduate degree programs in
law and economics. The government also encourages the application of the
gender perspective in studies in all undergraduate disciplines.2o
3. The Swedish authorities also maintain that it is possible to formulate
equal opportunities work both with and without a gender perspective.
These three assertions indicate three problem complexes that are often
confused with one another. Each of them contains, in its turn, a number of
conceptual difficulties. This text goes on to analyze these conceptual issues
and to discuss questions of the following type: Is it implicit in equal
opportunities work to encourage courses and research with a gender
perspective? Is offering courses with a gender perspective one way of
19 Offi"iul government communicatio n 1999120(nl:24, Jiimstiilldhetspolitiken inf6r 2000-taler, (.Equal
Opportunities Entering the Twenty-First Century" p. 65).
20 rura. p. os.
2l