Revisiting lower secondary schools in the 1990s : Reflections on and interpretations of sexual and gender-based harassment

Results from national school health surveys suggest that girls’ experiences of sexual harassment have increased dramatically between the years 2017 and 2019 (Ikonen & Helakorpi, 2019). The most obvious explanation for the increase, however, is growing awareness among young women after #MeToo, rather than substantial actual changes. In the 1990s, issues related to harassment were not included into main educational documents, and even the terms were fairly unfamiliar to teachers (Lahelma, Palmu & Gordon, 2000). My aim in this chapter is to reflect on continuities and changes in sexual and gender-based harassment in schools from the late 1990s to the present day. I will especially explore experiences reported by young people and teachers, and interpretations by researchers regarding the theme in the 1990s. My method for revisiting the 1990s is first to reproduce the main parts of my earlier article Gendered Conflicts in Secondary School: Fun or enactment of power? (Lahelma, 2002a), which was published in the journal Gender and Education. In order to keep the interpretations authentic, I will, in the section Looking back to the 1990s, present the text as I originally wrote it, with some cuts and light editing, but without adding new references. In this article, I analysed the fine line between playing, which is ‘just fun’ and behaviour that is experienced as harassment.In the following section, Revisiting the analysis after 20 years, I will give an overview of the changes in the political and cultural environment, education and theoretical thinking that are relevant for understanding this theme now. Therefore, I will present some more current Finnish and international research, documents and statistics, although other chapters in this book also offer studies that analyse the current situation. Finally, I combine my earlier conclusions with new findings and reflect on what has changed and what has remained the same in young people’s experiences of and reflections on sexual and gender-based harassment in schools, and in teachers’ responses.Peer reviewe

Koulutusteiden risteysasemilla : pysyvyyksiä ja muutoksia nuorten suunnitelmissa

Aineisto on Opiskelijakirjaston digitoimaa ja Opiskelijakirjasto vastaa aineiston käyttöluvist

Boys once more!

Non peer reviewe

Author(s): Elina Lahelma Source

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Joint association of socioeconomic circumstances and minor mental health problems with antidepressant medication

Background Disadvantageous socioeconomic circumstances and minor mental health problems have both been associated with mental disorders, such as depression, but their joint contribution remains unknown. Methods The Helsinki Health Study baseline survey (2000-02) of 40- to 60-year-old employees was linked with antidepressant medication data from registers of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The analyses were made using logistic regression with first prescribed antidepressant medication purchase during a 10-year follow-up as the outcome. Minor mental health problems were measured by the emotional well-being scale of the RAND-36. Odds ratios were calculated for joint association of the lowest quartile of the emotional well-being scale of the RAND-36 and socioeconomic circumstances. Childhood (parental education and childhood economic difficulties), conventional (education, occupational class and income) and material (housing tenure and current economic difficulties) socioeconomic circumstances were examined. This study included 5450 participants. Results Minor mental health problems dominated the joint associations. Minor mental health problems were associated with antidepressant medication irrespective of socioeconomic circumstances whereas only low income, current economic difficulties and living in rented housing showed an association without minor mental health problems at baseline. Marital status, working conditions and BMI and health behaviours had only minimal contributions to the associations. Conclusions Minor mental health problems were consistently and strongly associated with antidepressant medication and dominated the joint associations with socioeconomic circumstances. Paying attention to minor mental health problems might help prevent mental disorders such as depression.Peer reviewe

Construction of equality and gender in PISA reports

Vuodesta 2000 lähtien kolmen vuoden välein toteutetun OECD:n eli Taloudellisen yhteistyön ja kehityksen järjestön koordinoiman kansainvälisen oppilasarvioinnin (Programme for International Student Assessment, PISA) tulokset ovat nostaneet suomalaisen koulutusjärjestelmän ylpeyden aiheeksi. Kansalliseen ylpeyteen on kietoutunut huoli siitä, että sukupuoliero tyttöjen eduksi on Suomessa ollut erityisen suuri. Artikkelissa tarkastelemme PISA-tulosten ensiraportteja eri vuosilta. Kysymme, millaisia tilastoja ja tulkintoja sukupuolesta suhteessa maahanmuuttaja- ja sosioekonomiseen taustaan esitetään ja miten tasa-arvo rakentuu raportoinnissa. Analyysissa nojaudumme tutkimusperinteeseen, jossa numerot, tilastot ja mittaaminen ajatellaan hallintana. Analyysimme osoittaa, että vaikka PISA-tuloksissa suurimmat erot ovat sosioekonomisten ryhmien sekä maahanmuuttajataustaisten ja kantaväestön oppilaiden välillä, raportoinnin painopiste on oppilasarviointien alusta asti kohdistunut sukupuolieroon. Väitämme, että tämä ylläpitää poikiin kohdistuvaa huolidiskurssia suunnaten näin yhteiskunnallista keskustelua pois moniperusteisesta, esimerkiksi taloudellisesta ja rodullistamalla tuotetusta eriarvoisuudesta.Peer reviewe