Equal Opportunities Work - Theories about Practice

Foreword
What makes equal opportunities work so difficult to accomplish? The answer, of
course, has to do with various kinds of resistance and exercising of power. But
effective, efficient equal opportunities work also requires clear thinking. I hope
this text might contribute to dispelling some confusion.
It is difficult to pursue equal opportunities work today for many reasons,
including the fact that the terms and concepts used are vague and require
clearer definitions, and that the arguments put forward tend not to be
sufficiently well thought-through and that traditional arguments may be
repeated without critical consideration. This text attempts to sharpen the terms
and the arguments, taking equal opportunities work in practice as its point of
departure. If we are to work effectively in the area of equality of opportunity
we do need to think about it more clearly. However, that will not be sufficient
in itself.
The notions and arguments analyzed below were taken from two fields of
practical work with equal opportunities - the political and the organizational.
As the title implies, this text proposes theories about what practitioners are
doing. All such terms and ways of reasoning are, of course, national by nature,
and must be seen in their respective contexts. In our increasingly globalized
world, we must also learn to consider our national phenomena in an
international perspective. This helps us to understand them more thoroughly.
This text has been translated from Swedish into English in hopes of triggering
a dialogue on equal opportunities work in an international context.
Studies of universities and other institutes of higher education have confirmed
the notion that they are "bastions of masculinity". A number of efforts have been
made to produce policies promoting equal opportunities between women and
men, with a view to counteracting this situation. These policies have focused on
bringing about institutional reform and achieving organizations where greater
equality prevails.
However, progress in this area is slow, and today our universities and
institutes of higher education are still anything but models of equality. What
can we do, in reality, to bring about changes so our organizations better reflect
equal opportunities? What should our action plans contain, and how should