The “gender equality paradox” of Nordic countries has often been captured through quantitative research examining gender divided labour market. The latest statistics from Statistics Norway shows that larger proportion of women still work part time compared to men, and women and men choose different sectors and industries that directly influence their career path (SSB, 2018). For instance, 36,8% of employed women work part time compared to 12,5 percent men (SSB, 2017). The statistics that can guide us to measure gender divided labour markets are often categorised by sectors, industries and types of professions.
However, in the societies that have heavily been influenced by post-industry economy, digitalization processes in both public and private sectors create patterns in women’s career in ICT-related works that cannot be fully captured by the mentioned categories. There is much pressure on researchers to justify their research and findings by numbers and graphs. For several decades, feminist scholars, such as Harding (1995) and Haraway (1988), have been engaged in conversations about objectivity and production of knowledge and methodology. For instance, Harding (1995) has argued that stronger reflection on social and historical context of particular knowers will increase and strength our ability to achieve objectivity. We probably gain much by re-visiting feminist engagement in the question of objectivity, in a time when knowledge is critical aspect of societal and economic development.
Gilda Seddighi
References
Haraway, D. (1988). Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575-599. doi:10.2307/3178066
Harding, S. (1995). “Strong objectivity”: A response to the new objectivity question. Synthese, 104, 331-349. doi:https://doi-org.pva.uib.no/10.1007/BF01064504
SSB. (2017). Indikatorer for kjønnslikestilling i kommunene 2016. Statisctics Norway. Retrieved from https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/statistikker/likekom/aar/2017-12-18?fane=tabell&sort=nummer&tabell=333200
SSB. (2018). Dette er kvinner og menn i Norge. Retrieved from https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/artikler-og-publikasjoner/_attachment/341883?_ts=161e302ccb8
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