Kynjaðar væntingar til kvenna og karla í tveimur leikskólum

The World Economic Forum (2013) annually reports on the status of the global gender gap in 136 countries (p. 6). According to the 2013 report Iceland is the country with the narrowest gender gap in the world (p. 16). Even though the situation concerning equal status between men and women is good compared with many other countries, there are still issues that need to be improved. Gender segregation in the labour market is high, women do not have the same accessibility to management positions as men, and there is still a gender pay gap (p. 220). Preschool teaching is a low-paying job (Þordis Þorðardottir, 2012b, p. 68 and 79), and the majority of preschool teachers are women. In 2012, 94% of preschool employees in Iceland were women (Hagstofa Islands, 2013c), and about 98% of those studying to become preschool teachers (Hagstofa Islands, 2013b). Qualified preschool teachers were only about 33% of preschool employees in 2013 (Hagstofa Islands, 2013d). The aim of the article is to examine how ideas about masculinity and femininity influence men and women who work in two preschools in Iceland. Attitudes of both qualified preschool teachers and unqualified staff are taken into account in order to get a comprehensive view of the status of equal rights between men and women in the preschools. Connell´s concept of hegemonic masculinity and emphasized femininity were applied to explore gender relations in the preschools. The position of women and men in Icelandic preschools has not been studied this way before. This article seeks to answer the following question: How do ideas about femininity and masculinity influence the approaches of women and men working in preschools, and how do these ideas affect expectations towards them? Qualitative methods were used, and data was gathered during the 2011–2012 school year. Data was collected in two preschools, consisting of ten interviews and two participant observations. Five interviews were conducted in each preschool, four with women and one with a man. Their job experience ranked from less than two years to about thirty years. Three of them were qualified preschool teachers, whereas two of them were unqualified staff members. The male interviewees in both the preschools were unqualified. In each preschool one participant observation was conducted providing an opportunity to observe how women and men work and communicate. The conclusions show that the division of labour in both the preschools is predominantly along gendered lines. The men receive support from the women in the preschools, who often compared the men’s methods of work to their own. The discourse concerning the men’s approach to their work is positive and the women compliment them, for example for playing football. This support provides them with a unique position in the two preschools, where no comparable discourse applied to women. The women thus facilitate men’s dominant status through emphasized femininity, which is one of the reasons for women’s subordination in society (Connell, 1987, p. 183). Essetialism characterized the participants’ discussion where preconceived notions about different gender roles for men and women were dominant. The division of labour among the staff can influence children’s preconceived notions about different roles for men and women based on their gender. The findings also indicate that male preschool employees are thought to be important role models for the children and particularly the boys. The discussion is related to the “poor boys” discussion. A common myth in the discourse is that poor educational performance of boys can be attributed to their lack of male role models in schools (Ingolfur Asgeir Johannesson, 2004, p. 116). Furthermore the findings show that women seem to expect male employees to stay in preschools for a short time because the low salary will be unacceptable to them. This kind of discussion did not define attitudes towards women. Prejudice inside the preschools and from parents appears to have contributed to the fact that few men work in preschools. This relates to their characterisation as potential sex offenders. It seems to be difficult for people to picture men wanting to work in preschools because of their interest in childcare and the wellbeing of children. One of the aims of the Act on Equal Rights of Women and Men (i. Log um jafna stoðu og jafnan rett kvenna og karla nr. 10/2008) is to change traditional gender roles and work against negative stereotypes concerning women and men through awareness-raising. The aim is also to specifically improve the status of women and increase their opportunities in society, for example by increasing education on gender equality. It seems that these factors are not being considered thoroughly and the findings pose questions whether other preschools have as clear a division of labour regarding women and men. Further research is required to shed light on gender equality, or lack thereof, and whether the low status of women is reproduced in other preschools as well.