"If you can handle it mentally, you'll succeed in high school"

Finnish General Upper Secondary School Girls' Strategies for Navigating the Gendered Student Ideal

Authors

• Heli Pesonen Itä-Suomen yliopisto https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7714-5277
• Anne-Mari Souto Itä-Suomen yliopisto https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3511-9696
• Toni Kosonen Jyväskylän yliopiston Opettajankoulutuslaitos https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6693-571X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.147768

Keywords:

gender, girl studies, gendered habits, Finnish general upper secondary school, student ideal

Abstract

In this article, we investigate the strategies employed by girls in Finnish general upper secondary schools (GUS) to construct their relationship with the student ideal present in the school context. Our research brings the voices of these girls into an era emphasising individualism, self-direction, freedom of choice, and self-responsibility. In their everyday school life, girls navigate both the pressures of GUS studies and the demands of conforming to a narrow normative femininity. Our interest in this topic stems from previous research highlighting the inequitable and gendered practices of schooling as well as challenges related to girls’ well-being. The data consist of 11 in-depth interviews, analysed through dialogical thematisation by categorising strategies that illustrate how girls negotiate their relationship with the student ideal. From the interviews, we identified four strategies: managing alone, striving for excellence, criticising imposed responsibility, and distancing from normative femininity. Research on GUS students is scarce, and qualitative studies focusing on girls or girlhood within this context are particularly limited. Our research makes lived girlhood visible and deepens understanding of the expectations directed at girls. In addition, it challenges the recognition and transformation of inequitable and gendered practices within the GUS context, as well as the integration of gender awareness and gender responsibility into teacher education.