Preschool as an Arena of Gender Policies: The Examples of Sweden and Scotland.

The objective of this study is to compare and analyse constructions of staff responsibilities to promote gender equality in preschool in Swedish and Scottish state policies from the 1970s to the 2000s.
More specifically, changes in policies, visibility of gender equality contra gender difference as well as any discrepancies in the statements on gender equality are examined.

The uniformity discourse is strongest in the Swedish policy documents, where gender equality comes across as a collective, fundamental social value in Sweden, where boys and girls have the same opportunities and influence, and equality involves erasing the differences. Scottish documents also show ideas about homogeneity and social influence, but these emphasize gender to a greater extend by recognizing and appreciating differences. However, the largest discrepancies are found in the current, Swedish preschool policy, in which gender equality is highlighted, while children are depicted in accordance with hegemonic types of masculinity, where autonomy and adventurism are emphasized.

The study is designed as a document study of state policies from the 1970s to the 2000s. At the same time, the study has features associated with cross-sectional studies. State preschool policies have been collected and examined, primarily curricula from  2006 and 1999 from Sweden and Scotland, respectively. The author has also carried out four background interviews about the Scottish policy contexts.

Edström, C. (2009). Preschool as an Arena of Gender Policies: The Examples of Sweden and Scotland. European Educational Research Journal, 8(4), S. 534-549.