“Screwed from the start”: How women perceive opportunities and barriers for building a successful research career

After finishing the PhD, the researcher enters a stage in their early research career where more independence is expected. Within a relatively short time period, the researcher needs to gather research experience and support in the form of tangible resources as funding, and intangible resources like access to research networks, close collaborations, and mentorship to support their next career stage. How resources are allocated are therefore important determinants for the success of researchers. However, research shows that the resource allocation decisions in academia are biased in favor of men, with many of these gender biases that influence the success of research careers increasing. In this study, we asked women employed as early-career researchers (WECRs) about how they view their opportunities and potential for long-term success within academia, and how this relates to the resources that they have access to. We found that the WECRs were given few resources and support, and that they perceived that finding resources important for their career was up to themselves. The noticeable male dominance in who receives resources and positions within the university and the lack of women as role-models signals to WECRs that they are not wanted in academia. The WECRs suggest several ways to improve the possibilities for a successful research career for women on more equal terms as their male collegues: these include transparent processes for resource allocations, equal opportunity officers in all hiring processes, and mandatory gender training for all senior research and administrative staff. All the actions suggested are within the control of the university

'Challenging from the start': novice doctoral co-supervisors' experiences of supervision culture and practice

There is a widespread interest in doctoral supervision, yet novice doctoral co-supervisors' experiences remain understudied. The aim of this qualitative study is to explore how supervision culture and practice are experienced by novices. This thematic analysis is based on focus groups and in-depth interviews with 23 novice co-supervisors from two Swedish research-intensive universities. The study reveals three dimensions related to the challenging experience of the supervision culture, namely closedness, dependence and competition. Moreover, the analysis proves that co-supervisors' practices are embedded within the 'hidden curriculum', here defined as the unplanned and implicit support outside formal meetings and activities. Novice co-supervisors bridge the gap between main supervisors and doctoral students and make the path to the doctoral degree smoother when engaging in emotional, intellectual, practical and mediation support. This study has practical implications and suggests improvements for co-supervision that would also benefit the doctoral students

Critical, Engaged and Change-oriented Scholarship in Environmental Communication. Six Methodological Dilemmas to Think With

While calls for critical, engaged and change-oriented scholarship in environmental communication (EC) abound, few articles discuss what this may practically entail. With this article, we aim to contribute to a discussion in EC about the methodological implications of such scholarship. Based on our combined experience in EC research and drawing from a variety of academic fields, we describe six methodological dilemmas that we encounter in our research practice and that we believe are inherent to such scholarship. These dilemmas are (1) grasping communication; (2) representing others; (3) involving people in research; (4) co-producing knowledge; (5) engaging critically; and (6) relating to conflict. This article does not offer solutions to these complex dilemmas. Rather, our dilemma descriptions are meant to help researchers think through methodological issues in critical, engaged and change-oriented EC research. The article also helps to translate the dilemmas to the reality of research projects through a set of questions, aimed to support a sensitivity to, and understanding of, the dilemmas in context. critical, engaged, change-oriented, methodology, dillemmaspublishedVersio

Bokrecension

Bokrecension av: Studenters skrivande i humaniora och samhällsvetenskap. Redaktör: Anna Malmbjer. Södertörn Studies in Higher Education 7. Södertörns högskola, Huddinge, 2017, ISBN:978-91-87843-91-

Emotional bonds as obstacles to land sale : attitudes to land among local and absentee landowners in Northwest Estonia

Despite the importance of the emotional attachment to land among landowners affected by Soviet collectivisation, relatively few studies have focused on this question. In Estonia, the land restitution process in the 1990s made it possible to return nationalised property to its former owners or their heirs. Many of these now live abroad or in other parts of the country. This paper shows that the opportunity to own restituted property may create strong emotional bonds to land. This study also attempts to discuss what these bonds mean to different categories of landowners and how this can affect attitudes to land and plans for the future. The study is based on a postal survey and interviews. One implication of a strong attachment to land can be reluctance to sell the land. A group of absentee owners wants to keep the land as preventive owners without using it. This non-active land ownership has implications for the area, with its potential for tourism and second homes. A historically rooted emotional attachment to land among owners of restituted property is most common among the locals and the Swedish owners. Memories associated with the land in question are identified as one important aspect of the evolvement of such emotional bonds. On the basis of the results I argue that those among the next generation of absentee owners who lack these kinds of memories could be more inclined to sell family land in the future.Mark och skog som resurser i Estlan

Gendered youth strategies for inclusion in achanging society: : breaking or reproducing the local gender contract?

This paper explores how place and gender relations influence young people’s ways of formulatingtheir struggles and negotiations related to education, work, family, everyday life and achievement ofcertain life goals. In addition, the paper examines key municipal officials’ viewpoints, opening up aspace for exchange and development at the interface of policy actions and young people’s embodiedlives. It is shown that young men and women alike are aware of the challenge to deconstructhegemonic notions of gender. The focus is on societal changes and young people’s educational andwork strategies in Dalarna, Central Sweden. Historically, this county was dependent on steel, iron andpaper industries: traditionally male employment sectors. Transformation of the labour market isinvolving new trends and expectations. A result is that gender relations associated with place-specific,as well as general, assumptions about masculinity and femininity are becoming increasingly fluid whiletheir discursive strength remains

Private landowners’ relation to land and forest in two Estonian counties

This comparative study is based on two large surveys of privateland and forest owners in two Estonian counties. While more than half of Põlvamaa is covered with forests, Läänemaa has a potential for summer tourism and second homes. We explore different rationales for obtaining landed property and analyse the individual property holders’ relations to—and use of—landand forests. Based on the two interlinked restitution and privatisation processes from 1991 onwards, our surveys reveal two main rationales among the owners:emotional and economic. The owners’ relations to the property are connected with legacies from both the interwar independence and the Soviet period. In addition, different rationalities, ambitions and attitudes are also related to how the property was obtained. In spite of the demand for land, many resituated landowners have chosen to maintain or recreate family property, even if the property was not actively used. In both Põlvamaa and Läänemaa the emotional bonds to land are strong among the owners of restituted or inherited property, while this is a weaker factor among those who have obtained land or forest through privatisation

Do personal experiences have an impact on teaching and didactic choises in geography?

Factors influencing teachers’ selection of content in geography teaching is a fundamental didactic matter.1 The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether Swedish geography teachers’ informal and formal experiences have influenced their interest in geography and if so, in what way. The results disclosed that informal experiences like outings, holidays, and childhood memories have a significant impact. The results also revealed that childhood experiences might increase the comprehension of how nature and mankind are connected, and how various places differ. Selective traditions showed to be strong, i.e. geographic names and map reading were prioritized while at excursions, physical geography was particularly dominating. We argue that in the geography teacher education, didactics should include methods for field studies, giving emphasis also to the part dealing with human geography. Forthcoming teachers need to reflect on how to make didactic choices in order to renounce the selective traditions in the subject.