Feministiska interventioner

En utmaning av könshierarkier i akademin?

Abstract

Academic culture has long been characterized by vertical gender segregation – the higher up in the hierarchy the greater the number of men. For decades, the government has tried to address the academy’s lack of gender equality by way of a national gender equality policy. This article discusses the political efforts of recent decades to achieve gender equality in senior leadership positions in academia. What strategies and measures have been implemented and what effects have they had? I take my starting point in Swedish and international research on gender equality initiatives to attract more women into academic leadership positions, as well as in my own experiences from a gender-integrated leadership development program for future deans at Lund University. In conclusion, I argue for a feminist intervention – a gender-conscious “nomadic” leadership – as a possible path to change. Is it the case that feminist interventions, and not simply gender equality initiatives, are necessary for change to take place?