In the hairdressing occupation emotional labour has often come to overshadow other vocational skills. The present study, using ethnographic methods, explores how students and teachers in vocational education and training (VET) for hairdressers in Sweden describe and explain the emotional labour being carried out when a hairdresser perform good…

In Sweden, as in Western countries generally, most preschool teachers are women. This fact sometimes leads to the assumption that preschools are "feminine", and that this might be bad for boys. We challenge this assumption. Using a gender critical approach we have studied preschool student teachers. "Femininity" might be used…

A historical perspective may provide important insights for understanding contemporary discussions and the expectations attached to women and men in today's teaching. The role of gendered meanings in relation to teachers' work is explored in this article by focusing on discussions on school discipline during the period 1960-1970. Teachers'…

In 1962 the Swedish Parliament decided on a school reform. Meritocracy and equal opportunity were important goals. However, these ideals were not applied to elementary school teacher education, where a sex quota policy favoured male applicants. In the parliamentary debate, a woman member of the Right Wing Party raised objections to the policy. A…