Place, (In)Equality and Gender

197 Pages·2015·1.91 MB·English

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Place, (In)Equality and Gender
A Mapping of Challenges and Best Practices in Relation to Gender,
Education and Population Flows in Nordic Peripheral Areas
Place, (In)Equality and Gender
This mapping presents a selected overview of existing research on
gender, education and population flows in the Nordic peripheral
areas. These areas are faced with a series of challenges that cannot be
analyzed nor solved without taking a gender perspective into account.
The challenges relate to, for instance, altered living conditions caused
by global changes, stagnated or negative economic development,
decrease in the amount of workplaces (particularly in the traditionally
male- dominated professions) as well as, not least, migration and
depopulation which is partly due to the fact that the young people
of the area (especially the women) move to bigger cities to educate
themselves. The challenges in question are not only significant in
relation to the viability and cohesion of the areas, but also for the men
and women who live there and their mutual social relations.
TemaNord 2015:558
ISBN 978-92-893-4267-4 (PRINT)
ISBN 978-92-893-4269-8 (PDF)
ISBN 978-92-893-4268-1 (EPUB)
ISSN 0908-6692
TN2015558 omslag.indd 1 06-07-2015 12:35:41

Place, (In)Equality and Gender 
A Mapping of Challenges and Best Practices  
in Relation to Gender, Education and  
Population Flows in Nordic Peripheral Areas 

Stine Thidemann Faber, Helene Pristed Nielsen and
Kathrine Bjerg Bennike

TemaNord 2015:558
Place, (In)Equality and Gender
A Mapping of Challenges and Best Practices in Relation to Gender, Education and Population
Flows in Nordic Peripheral Areas

Stine Thidemann Faber, Helene Pristed Nielsen and Kathrine Bjerg Bennike

ISBN 978‐92‐893‐4267‐4 (PRINT)
ISBN 978‐92‐893‐4269‐8 (PDF)
ISBN 978‐92‐893‐4268‐1 (EPUB)

http://dx.doi.org/10.6027/TN2015‐558
TemaNord 2015:558
ISSN 0908‐6692

© Nordic Council of Ministers 2015
Layout: Hanne Lebech
Cover photo: ImageSelect

Print: Rosendahls‐Schultz Grafisk
Printed in Denmark

This publication has been published with financial support by the Nordic Council of Ministers.
However, the contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views, policies or recom‐
mendations of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

www.norden.org/nordpub

Nordic co‐operation
Nordic co‐operation is one of the world’s most extensive forms of regional collaboration, involv‐
ing Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland.
Nordic co‐operation has firm traditions in politics, the economy, and culture. It plays an im‐
portant role in European and international collaboration, and aims at creating a strong Nordic
community in a strong Europe.
Nordic co‐operation seeks to safeguard Nordic and regional interests and principles in the
global community. Common Nordic values help the region solidify its position as one of the
world’s most innovative and competitive.

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Contents

Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................... 7
Gendered challenges in Nordic peripheral areas .................................................................... 7

Themes and trends accross the Nordic countries .................................................................. 9

Preface ...............................................................................................................................................................19

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................21
A gendered perspective on the challenges in Nordic peripheral areas ......................22
What and whom does the mapping focus on? ........................................................................26
Arrangement and completion of the mapping .......................................................................30
Best practice cases ...............................................................................................................................30

The structure of the report ..............................................................................................................31

1. Livi ng Conditions, Demographic Transformations and Gender ...........................................33
1.1 Sweden ........................................................................................................................................33
1.2 Norway ........................................................................................................................................35
1.3 Denmark .....................................................................................................................................37
1.4 Finland .........................................................................................................................................41
1.5 Iceland .........................................................................................................................................42
1.6 Greenland ...................................................................................................................................45
1.7 The Faroe Islands ...................................................................................................................49

1.8 The Åland Islands ...................................................................................................................54

2. Edu cation, (Im)Mobility and Gender ..........................................................................................59
2.1 Sweden ........................................................................................................................................59
2.2 Norway ........................................................................................................................................60
2.3 Denmark .....................................................................................................................................62
2.4 Finland .........................................................................................................................................66
2.5 Iceland .........................................................................................................................................68
2.6 Greenland ...................................................................................................................................70
2.7 The Faroe Islands ...................................................................................................................75

2.8 The Åland Islands ...................................................................................................................77

3. Pla ce Attachment, Everyday Life and Gender .........................................................................83
3.1 Sweden ........................................................................................................................................83
3.2 Norway ........................................................................................................................................85
3.3 Denmark .....................................................................................................................................89
3.4 Finland .........................................................................................................................................92
3.5 Iceland .........................................................................................................................................94
3.6 Greenland ...................................................................................................................................98
3.7 The Faroe Islands ................................................................................................................ 100
3.8 The Åland Islands ................................................................................................................ 103
4. Gen der, Work and Working Life in Transition .................................................................... 111
4.1 Sweden ..................................................................................................................................... 111
4.2 Norway ..................................................................................................................................... 113
4.3 Denmark .................................................................................................................................. 115
4.4 Finland ...................................................................................................................................... 118
4.5 Iceland ....................................................................................................................................... 119
4.6 Greenland ................................................................................................................................ 125
4.7 The Faroe Islands ................................................................................................................ 130

4.8 The Åland Islands ................................................................................................................ 132

5. Cha nging Gender Relations and Gender Norms ................................................................. 141
5.1 Sweden ..................................................................................................................................... 141
5.2 Norway ..................................................................................................................................... 144
5.3 Denmark .................................................................................................................................. 146
5.4 Finland ...................................................................................................................................... 148
5.5 Iceland ....................................................................................................................................... 150
5.6 Greenland ................................................................................................................................ 151
5.7 The Faroe Islands ................................................................................................................ 153

5.8 The Åland Islands ................................................................................................................ 154

6. You ng Men and Masculinity/-ies in Peripheral Areas ..................................................... 159
6.1 Sweden ..................................................................................................................................... 159
6.2 Norway ..................................................................................................................................... 160
6.3 Denmark .................................................................................................................................. 164
6.4 Finland ...................................................................................................................................... 166
6.5 Iceland ....................................................................................................................................... 167
6.6 Greenland ................................................................................................................................ 169
6.7 The Faroe Islands ................................................................................................................ 170

6.8 The Åland Islands ................................................................................................................ 172

List of references ....................................................................................................................................... 173

Sammenfatning ........................................................................................................................................... 185
Kønnede udviklingstendenser i Nordens yderområder ................................................. 185
Udvalgte temaer og tendenser på tværs af Norden .......................................................... 187
Overview of best practice cases in the report
Suomen opiskelija-asunnot – Finland ............................................................................................... 56
The Special Initiatives Zone – Norway .............................................................................................. 57
West Nordic Master – Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and Greenland ............................. 80
The LOSA Project – Norway ................................................................................................................... 81
The Distance Learning Centre in Vágur – Faroe Islands ......................................................... 106
Råd & Dåd – Denmark – Denmark ..................................................................................................... 107
E-forum – Greenland ................................................................................................................................ 109
The NITUS Project – Sweden ............................................................................................................... 110
Project Qualifying for new jobs – Denmark .................................................................................. 139
Brautargengi – Project for female entrepreneurs – Iceland ................................................. 141
North Atlantic Law Programme – Denmark, Faroe Islands and Greenland .................. 158
Project Men in Health – Norway ........................................................................................................ 159
Executive summary
This report presents the results from a cross-Nordic mapping of existing
research and literature on gender, education and population flows in the
peripheral areas of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland and the
autonomous territories of Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Åland. The
Nordic Council of Ministers and the Danish Ministry of Children, Gender
Equality, Integration and Social Affairs commission the mapping.
The purpose of the mapping has been to highlight development
trends and identify best practice cases across the Nordic region’s pe-
ripheral areas, and thus contribute to the exchange of knowledge and
create a basis for joint talks and discussion. A pivotal aim of this map-
ping has been to shed light on the challenges facing the peripheral areas,
while at the same time focusing on the intersection between gender and
place/space. As stated in the mapping, the places where men and wom-
en live, and the spheres they move around in (e.g. in the family, in the
opportunity
educational institutions, at the workplaces, etc.) are all rooted in specific
structures
geographical locations, that contribute to define both which
exist, and the degrees of freedom each individual face. Thus,
the mapping is based on an understanding that gender must be taken
into consideration, if one aims to fully understand trends in the periph-
eral areas of the Nordic countries.
Gendered challenges in Nordic peripheral areas
The mapping sheds light on a number of specific developments which
are of particular importance for the viability and cohesion of the periph-
eral areas, and for the people who live there. This applies, for example,
to challenges related to changing living conditions, stagnant or negative
economic development and low growth, a decline in the number of jobs
(especially in the traditional male professions), and not least migration
and depopulation. The fact, that women are more likely than men to
female exodus kvindeflugt female deficit
leave the Nordic peripheral areas and move to the cities, has given rise
kvindeunderskud
to concepts such as ( ) and
( ).
As stated in the mapping, the fact that women in great numbers
choose to move from the less populated areas in the Nordic countries
towards the cities is not a new problem; in fact, for over 100 years, re-
search has pointed to this trend, although global developments in recent
the men
times seem to have contributed to intensify the negative trends. At the
being left behind
same time, in recent years there has been an increased focus on
, and it has been argued that the restructuring of the
labour markets in the peripheral areas (and a significant decline in the
so-called ”male professions”) has put the more traditional forms of mas-
culinity under pressure. The men living in the peripheral areas have, in
losers
this debate, been described as reluctant towards transitions, uneducat-
ed, marginalised and as , who are not able to keep up with the pace
of contemporary modern societies. Thus, in recent years, we have wit-
choose to move
nessed a shift, where it is not only articulated as a problem that the
women in the peripheral areas of the Nordic countries –
choose not to move
i.e. that they disappear from the areas – but now it is also articulated as a
problem that the men in these areas . It is on the basis
of this issue that this report uncovers some of the aspects related to the
intersection of gender and place/space, and this includes mapping exist-
ing research and literature.
Above all, the mapping uncovers the challenges related to education,
work and leisure. As shown, the described challenges hold many dimen-
sions – both at the level of the individual, the collective and society, and
in the interaction between the levels.
Across the different Nordic locations there are in general a number of
relevant similarities. This is reflected in the educational system, on the
labor market and generally in the local communities of the Nordic periph-
eral areas. However, when one considers the Nordic countries as an entity,
there are also a number of contrasting differences, which contributes to
make the challenges that this mapping tries to uncover even more com-
plex. For instance these differences relate to geographical distances, popu-
lation density, distribution of natural resources, organization of the social
infrastructure, the speed at which the national, regional and local educa-
tion systems and labour markets are changing, differences in the charac-
teristics of these labour markets, and the sectors that dominate.
In the case of Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and the Åland Is-
lands, these are small island communities with noticeably fewer inhabit-
ants than in the other Nordic countries. This has implications for the
nature of the changes, as well as the discussions on how they can be
countered. Yet, also in these places it applies that the developments hold
a clear gender dimension.
Place, (In)Equality and Gender
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