Organisering av ojämställdhet - En studie av kvinnors möjligheter att nå chefspositioner i Försvarsmaktens personalstab
This thesis aims to examine why women are prevented from attaining high positions in organizations. By executing a case study through qualitative interviews with employees from the Human Resource Department at the agency for Swedish Armed Forces, this study presents eight general and specific explanatory factors that hinder women from making a vertical career. The general factors include that women are discriminated against, women are perceived as less competent, men have created organizations and it is easier to recruit men. The specific factors include that a hierarchical organizational structure is correlated to inequality, that both the agency for Swedish Armed Forces and leadership are associated with masculinity and that women with civil competence face double misfortune. The division between general and specific factors indicate that the explanatory factors vary between organizations, which among other things implies that equality work should be tailored for the specific organization. The results of the study also implies that the hierarchical structure leads to a visible concrete ceiling that hinders women from reaching the highest positions and that the explanatory factors are built upon three basic elements: culture, structure and history.