“Det er jo drepen å gjøre det samme om og om igjen”. Om jobbengasjement blant kvinnelige offiserer i den norske hæren: About work engagement among female officers in the Norwegian army

Abstract

The Norwegian Armed Forces have not achieved their aim of employing 20% women in military positions. Work engagement is emphasized as an important factor for preventing employees to quit work. The aim of this quali-tative study was to investigate which factors Norwegian female officers in the Norwegian Army highlight as important for their work engagement. We inter-viewed twelve female officers in depth. The findings indicate that an active job, social support (from men), work-home balance and career adaptation to phases of life are important for the work engagement of female officers. Gradually in their careers, the army’s peace-keeping role appear to be im-portant. The study shows that the army should develop their human resource management policy with adaptation to life phases for their officers.