The most important results of the study are related to the contradictory expectations faced and also set by the young women on themselves. As the most significant result can be seen the conflict between young women's conscientiousness and reasonable ambition. The orientation that can be deduced from the interviews could be called 'adaptable ambition'.

It is possible to study various aspects of the entry of women into working life by means of women with higher education, since they have in theory all the opportunities for equal treatment in job seeking and working life. Despite that gender equality does not appear to be realized in regard to the highly educated women either.

The information on which the study is based consists of the observations made in the context of six courses on training for job seeking, which were organized by the recruitment service of the University of Helsinki, and of interviews with students. The interview material is supplemented by one interview with an expert. In addition to the interview and observation material the media material compiled from August 2001 to January 2003 serves as subsidiary material for the study.

The intersection of the study is the trinity of competition, risks arising therein, and family. These three elements belong to every woman's life, whether she wants children or not. The interviewed women aim to reconcile them but have to notice that they cause many conflicts at the stage when the women are entering the labour market.

The study discloses that the reason for why parenthood is postponed to a later stage is the insecure labour market for young women. Young women want both 'a good job' and 'a good motherhood'. Women are still today brought up to be conscientious and take others into account, which is incompatible with the hard rules of our competitive society. The study examines the place of women in the field of competition by means of McClelland's theory describing the resources of societies. The characteristics by which McClelland describes people in successful societies are a high achievement motivation and other-directed social behaviour, which cause ambivalence in regard to young women. Both society and the women themselves place strong normative expectations on young women. The gender system and gendered practices and structures of working life maintain these expectations. Dismantling the discriminatory gendered practices and structures of the labour market would enable equal opportunities for both women and men for permanent jobs and setting up a family.

Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Council for Gender Equality
Finland
Ms. Hannele Varsa

05/05/2006

Maija Fast

research

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Education

Higher education