Abstract
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.
Highlights
Sweden has a reputation as being world-leading on gender equality (Pringle, 2009; Towns, 2002; Weiner, 2005)
The Swedish gender equality policy that was put on the agenda in the 1970s is 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
Summary
Sweden has a reputation as being world-leading on gender equality (Pringle, 2009; Towns, 2002; Weiner, 2005). One issue that needs attention from a gender equality perspective is boys’ lower academic achievement compared to girls’, the minister claimed. To understand this shift, I will go back to the Swedish gender equality discussions of the 1970s. The discourse of “successful girls versus failing boys” started in Britain in the 1990s and has spread across the Western world (Foster, Kimmel, & Skelton 2001; Zyngier, 2009) This view has been criticized for being based on simplistic notions on gender and learning as well as for reinforcing gender stereotypes (Martino & Berill, 2003). In this paper I will explore how gender equality was discussed in relation to the Swedish comprehensive school during the period when the Swedish comprehensive school’s second curricula reform was forthcoming
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