Gender Equality in the Political Documents of the 2000s – What Are the Educational Intensions and Concepts Found in Them?

Authors

• Anne Laiho Turun yliopisto

Abstract

Gender equality has been a subject in Finnish education policy and education research since the 1970s. What does gender equality, in fact, mean in education? This question has not been especially actively considered, even though the political will to promote gender equality has strengthened during the past few years. This article examines how gender equality is analysed in the variety of political texts and documents, as well as in research literature. In what kind of juridical and political contexts is gender equality in education promoted in the 2000s? My empirical, close reading in this article focuses on recent educational policy documents concerning gender equality. In the policy documents the idea of gender equality is given as if hanging in the air and realised through different –mainly quantitative –indicators. In the texts and documents, the views suggested on gender and equality are diversified and they represent different approaches to gender equality. Equality is more strongly than ever understood as a conceptual and analytic tool emphasizing differences between and within the genders.