Prestigious teaching – for whom?

One of the projects awarded gender mainstreaming funding in 2024 involves investigating the allocation of duties at the Department of Government. Specifically, the researchers want to look at who gets to teach when, and what type of teaching is considered most prestigious.

“Our theory is that the more advanced the level, the more prestigious it tends to be. At least at our department. There are fewer courses at Master’s level and they are more closely related to people’s research. But we may be wrong. So we’re going to investigate what people think about it,” says Johanna Söderström, Docent and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Government.

Colleagues’ experiences inspired the study

The study is being undertaken against the backdrop of stories from various situations where women at the department have shared their experiences. Their stories suggest that some are asked to teach more than others. But is this true?

“To find out, we’re going to send a survey to our colleagues at the department. What do they consider to be prestigious teaching? Then we will look at statistics on the actual gender breakdown for the various courses,” says Luise Bendfeldt, researcher at the Department of Government.

These surveys will be complemented by interviews to find out about the process of assigning teaching duties. The aim is to obtain a better picture of the allocation of duties with a view to counteracting any imbalances.

Teaching important for the CV

Having varied teaching assignments is good for career development. Good teaching experience is required for the title of docent. Furthermore, when you apply for a position as senior lecturer, your teaching portfolio is evaluated. For those teaching Master’s courses, there are even more advantages.

“It increases the likelihood of supervising people who then become doctoral students,” says Söderström.

Broad representation benefits students too

Reconsidering the allocation of duties among teaching staff will also benefit students. For example, in the past, efforts have been made to ensure that professors teach first semester (A) courses to signal to students that their education is important. However, the question is exactly what the division of duties looks like, not only between academic levels, but also in terms of responsibility for a course versus lectures and other forms of teaching.

“The question of who teaches influences which perspectives are included in courses. It’s also about representation, the role models available to students. And of course this is not just a matter of gender, variation in several different dimensions is interesting, such as seniority,” says Söderström.

The study is expected to be completed in spring 2025.

Sandra Gunnarsson