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This paper draws on interviews to problematize perceptions among principals and civil servants within a local collaboration aiming to reduce the gender gap in academic results (or ‘grades'). Inspired by the ‘What’s the problem represented to be?’ approach, five problem representations about boys’ lower grades are constructed: The problem of gender norms; The problem of teaching; The problem of the students’ background; The problem of the (grading) system; and The problem of teachers’ (lack of) awareness. We analyse underlying assumptions of these problem representations and discuss the possible effects that school leaders’ perceptions of the ‘problem’ of the gender gap in grades might have for schools, teachers and students. The results show significant differences between what was said to be most important: changing gender norms, and the actual measures planned: changing teaching practices. This risks certain measures not being implemented and inequalities not being challenged despite the efforts for change.

Background: Destructive leadership has been linked to negative consequences for both organizations and followers. Research has also shown that leader gender affects follower perceptions of leadership behavior and follower outcomes [1,2,3]. However, knowledge is limited as to whether this also applies to destructive leadership [4]. This study aims to combine gendered organization theory with destructive leadership research to investigate the role that gender plays in the relation between destructive leadership behavior and follower outcomes.

Methods: The data were collected in collaboration with Statistic Sweden. It is a representative sample from the working population in Sweden. We used a two-wave survey design and included 1,121 participants in the analysis.

Results: The results from structural equation models indicated that destructive leadership has negative consequences for follower burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention 6 months later. The results also showed that followers reported a greater intention to leave the organization if the leader was the same gender and used destructive leadership.

Conclusions: Our study contributes to destructive leadership research by showing that the gender of both the leader and follower matters for the relation between destructive leadership behavior and follower outcomes. Additionally, our study makes a theoretical contribution by integrating a gender research perspective into destructive leadership research.

Context-specific GE knowledge is essential for epistemic contribution, nuanced understanding, and practical GE work in the Arctic HEIs. However, there is a shortage of research regarding gender equality (GE) in these institutions. We explored GE in HEI, and conducted a review on the Scopus database focusing on GE research done in the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The aim is to explore the produced GE research in an HEI context conducted by scholars affiliated with the Arctic Five universities. As a result, 24 articles met the inclusion criteria, most of which were published in Swedish universities (60%). Articles were dealing with; Academic careers, leadership and gender equality; Change agents and methods for reducing bias; Gendered constructions and gender equality; Discrimination and gender equality, and Entrepreneurship, innovation and gender equality, following mainstream gender equality research. Gender was often presented with binary division, women and men, and as opposite or distinctive from each other. However, some discussions went beyond binary gender categorizations—yet intersectional approaches were not prevalent. Arctic or northern contextualizations were not explicitly presented or elaborated in the studies, neither were Sámi research participants and Sámi researchers’ contribution.

Destructive leadership does not occur in a vacuum; rather, these behaviors are part of a social process in which leader and follower interact and influence each other. Still, knowledge regarding followers’ behaviors as antecedents to destructive leadership behavior is limited, even more so from a gender perspective. In this study, we investigate the relationship between perceived lack of team motivation and destructive leadership behavior, with the leader’s gender as a moderator. Together with Statistic Sweden, we collected data using a two-wave survey design. We included 784 participants in the analysis, using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that perceived lack of team motivation was associated with active and passive destructive leadership behaviors. Beyond that, the leader’s gender moderated the relationship between leaders’ perception of team amotivation and active destructive leadership. The results show that male leaders are more prone to act destructively when they perceive a lack of team motivation. These results suggest that male leaders may be more susceptible to engaging in destructive leadership behaviors due to identity threat than female leaders. Therefore, we examine how the construction of gender and identity and the close association between masculinity and leader identity contribute to the risk of engaging in destructive leadership behavior.

Background: The associations between physical activity and various social determinants with quality of life (QoL) among teenagers with cerebral palsy (CP) are inconclusive.

Objective: To explore associations between perceived QoL among teenagers with CP in Sweden and participation in physical leisure activity and physical education in school, as well as sex, gross motor function, pain and bother, caregivers’ birth country and socioeconomic status.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with teenagers who have CP, aged 15–18 years. The survey, including the assessment form Cerebral Palsy Quality of Life-teenager (CP QoL-teen), was sent to all youths in the national patient registry held by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (n = 900). Survey data was complemented with data from other national health registries containing information on demographics, physical leisure activity, physical education, and gross motor function. Multivariable linear- and quantile regression analyses were performed.

Results: The survey was answered by 149 participants. Physical leisure activity was positively associated with the QoL-domain Communication and physical health. Gross motor function was associated with domains referring to physical function and participation; more severe motor difficulties indicated lower QoL. Pain was negatively associated with all QoL domains. Low caregiver educational levels were associated with higher social well-being domain.

Conclusion: Minimizing pain and facilitating physical activity may enhance QoL for teenagers who have CP. To improve participation for teenagers with severe disabilities, with non-Nordic caregivers, and caregivers without postgraduate education, targeted measures to facilitate participation are needed.

Balancing between conflicting ideals. A study on ethical leader-ship, gender equality and diversity work in an upper secondary school. The aim of this article is to explore what characterizes principals’ ethical leadership in relation to gender- and diversity work at an upper sec-ondary school distinguished by its elite program profile. Our main research interest is to investigate how principals describe and relate to the school’s equality work. The study’s theoretical understanding is founded in Starratt’s descriptions of ethical leadership. The study emanates from 12 in-depth individual and focus group interviews with a total of 47 individuals, both school staff and pupils. Our conclusion is that the principals’ stated mission is to communicate success and create a school for a selected group of students. Furthermore, this mission becomes part of the principals’ responsibility. This means that their presence and authenticity in the processes, as well as the requirements and expectations set by the school organizer, limit the opportunities for principals to achieve gender equality and diversity.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a scale that can be used to assess inequality at work based on gender, age and ethnicity that is grounded in Acker’s (2006) inequality regimes.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors used three representative samples (total N = 1,806) of Swedish teachers, nurses and social workers to develop and validate the scale. The validation process included the assessment of content validity, confirmatory factor analysis for factorial validity, internal consistency and associations with theoretically warranted outcomes and related constructs to assess criterion-related validity and convergent validity.

Findings: The authors found evidence supporting the content, factorial, criterion-related and convergent validity of the InEquality in organisations Scale (InE-S). Furthermore, the scale demonstrated high internal consistency.

Originality/value: The newly developed scale InE-S may be used to further the understanding of how inequality at work influences employees. This study makes a contribution to the current literature by providing a scale that, for the first time, can test Acker’s hypotheses using quantitative methods to demonstrate the consequences of inequality at work.

This paper explores how workers in the women-dominated public sectorin Sweden speak about and make sense of gender and intragroup conflictand the consequences of this way of thinking and acting for genderequality at work. Using qualitative interviews with 26 first-level managersand employees, we introduce an analytical framework that employs criticaldiscourse psychology and the conceptualization of a postfeministsensibility at work. We identified three competing meanings (postfeministstorylines) of gender and intragroup conflict: Supporting the genderedmeanings of conflict, Unawareness of conflict’s gendered meanings andCounteracting the gendered meanings of conflict. The welfare workersacknowledged the role of gender in intragroup conflicts but, paradoxically,constructed their own workplaces as gender neutral, withoutinequalities related to gender. We interpret these three postfeminist storylinesas coping strategies; that is, as ways to make sense of the falsepromise of gender egalitarianism that characterizes the Swedish labourmarket.

Background: This article focuses on knowledge development and health professionals’ opportunitiesto use evidence-based practice (EBP). We studied registered physiotherapists (PT), occupationaltherapists (OT) and nurses (RN) in Swedish elderly-care institutions, a sector known for highturnover and shortages of competent staff.Objective: To examine the perspectives of healthcare providers on professional knowledge developmentand EBP in their organization.

Methods: We conducted on-site qualitative interviews with a purposive sample of PTs, OTs andRNs, in six elderly care institutions. Situational analysis was used to analyze the material.

Results: Three discursive professional positions were found: 1) Professional ambition in confusingwork organization; 2) Professional ambition in a knowledge-promoting work organization; and 3) Professional indifference with few aspirations for knowledge development. Professional aspirationstoward knowledge development were high in two of these positions, whereas the third representsa slightly different approach with fewer aspirations for knowledge development. Linked to theseprofessional approaches to knowledge development is a continuum of aggravating or facilitatingfactors within the work organization, including varying degrees of support from leadership of theorganization, as well as few opportunities for rewards.

Discussion and conclusions: It is concluded that elderly care needs to develop strategies forevidence-based practice in order for the sector to become a sustainable arena for health professionals’career development, and in order to improve the quality of care for the elderly.

Detta kapitel undersöker vilka konflikter som uppkommer och hur medarbetare, arbetsledare och första linjens chef hanterar dem på en kvinnohomogen arbetsplats. Vidare tittar vi på vilka organisatoriska förutsättningar som finns vad gäller konflikthantering, där relationsarbete är en central del av arbetsinnehållet. Intresset ligger i frågan om hur man för framtiden kan bygga en långsiktigt hållbar arbetsmiljö i en sektor där stress och hälsa i dag är ansträngd och sjuktalen höga. Argumenten till varför detta är en relevant framtidsfråga inom konfliktforskningen hänger samman med antaganden om att arbetskraften kommer bli mer heterogen, och att utbildningsnivåerna och specialisering i arbetslivet kommer öka. Det gör att olika professioner med potentiellt skilda kunskaper, värderingar och normer, kommer att samarbeta. Sammantaget ökar detta risken för missförstånd, irritation och osämja. Kapitlet bygger på forskningsprojektet Att räkna med bråk? En studie av konflikter och psykisk ohälsa i kvinnodominerade arbetsplatser ur ett genusperspektiv.