Women in Leadership Blog 1

In the American culture women are typically seen as inferior to the men as well as holding fewer leadership roles compared to men. Gender inequality is an issue that has yet to be resolved in the United States. Our culture has established stereotypical gender roles that has been very hard to break away from the passing down of these roles from generation to generation. While exploring the Swedish culture over the past few days, I have observed and paid close attention to their culture and the ways in which their society views gender roles as well as their views on women as leaders and caregivers.

The minute we were able to venture out into the city I immediately began to notice a plethora of similarities to that of my own country and hometown. I also noticed the differences as well. One distinct difference I see readily, is that Swedes have gender neutral restrooms everywhere in the city in both public and private places. While in America, we are fighting to get gender neutral bathrooms which have caused an uproar in many communities. However it seems to be the norm here in Sweden and one less issue to worry about. A similarity I have noticed about the Swedish culture is that their parliament government although, it is not a democracy like America, it still has a low percentage of women holding positions in the executive office. For example, there has only been three queens and currently there will be a fourth after the current king either passes away or steps down from the position. I was also informed that there is still a pay gap similar to the that in the our country, however there seems to be a more equal representation of women in top positions other than the head of the country.

We had the amazing opportunity to speak with a lecturer in the department of Gender Studies at Stockholm University who shared not only here experience with the program, but also about the development and progression of the program. One thing I really appreciated that was shared was the structure of the program. From my understanding, it seems as though they design the program in such a way that the students learn the practical skills at the beginning then venture into the history and theory behind gender issues and what it would take to advance their society. I also recognized another similarity in the feminist movements in the Swedish culture, although it is different given their history, however the issues with gendered roles are still similar and were worth formulating the program. Another observation I have been paying close attention to, would be the responsibility of children. I definitely see more couples sharing the responsibility of taking care of the children and making sure they have what they need. Compared to in America we have a number of single mothers taking care of their children on their own. Over the course of the next couple of weeks I hope to have the chance to speak with a couple to see how they view the relationship between work/life and childcare.