Þorgerður J Einarsdóttir
Biographic Data
| ID | 4397855 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Þorgerður J Einarsdóttir |
| GIVEN NAMES | Þorgerður J |
| FAMILY NAME | Einarsdóttir |
| SIGNATURE | EINARSDÓTTIR Þ J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Iceland |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8906-0760 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 147 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Making Space for Men? Men’s Participation in the Field of Gender Equality in Iceland from 1990-2020
Men's involvement in the work for gender equality in the ‘feminist paradise’ of Iceland is a politically prioritised but under-researched area. We examine the premise for men's involvement in gender equality work from 1990 to 2020 in terms of initiatives, ideological underpinnings, and what opportunities and challenges it brings to the field. Using thematic analysis of archive material, committee reports, newspapers, and other data we demonstrate…
Opportunities and Constraints
Academic institutions reproduce the dynamics of gendered power relations and maintain gendered inequalities, a process exacerbated by neoliberalism in higher education. In this article, we study how the interplay between conditions within academia and welfare issues affects academics' decision‐making regarding their careers and family life trajectories in different welfare regimes. We draw on open‐ended interviews with 26 men and women working in…
Through an Intersectional Lens
Using an intersectional lens, this study analyses data from a nationally representative sample in Iceland, examining violence among marginalized groups of different social locations. The results highlight the precarious position of disabled women and show a significant increase of risk of violence with each marginalized social location women inhabit. Results illustrate how precarity and exposure increases for multiply marginalized women, demonstr…
Justice and utility
Despite the adoption of board gender quotas in several countries, little is known about the views on quotas outside the boards. In this article, we expand the dialogue about gender quotas by examining managers' arguments (justice and utility) for quotas as a measure to increase gender balance in top‐level managements. Drawing on a survey of 504 men and women managers in 244 of Iceland's largest companies, we show that social‐justice arguments and…
Female enterprise on a transnational border
The aim of this article is to contribute to the historical discussion of women entrepreneurs. It demonstrates that in Iceland, historical research on this theme has been scarce. The special focus of this article is to analyse the entrepreneurial agency of an East Icelandic female businesswoman, Pálína Waage (1864–1935), against this background. Based on her autobiography, diaries, and other local accounts, we analyse Pálína’s work and life trajec…
When Discourse is Hijacked
Following a qualitative analysis of interviews with 16 current and former social scientists at the University of Iceland, we argue for the existence of an individual and implicit form of resistance to gender equality that we call “hijacking the discourse.” In a neoliberal culture of higher education that favors individual emancipation in an academic marketplace, a collective understanding of inequality as rooted in larger systems of power is in d…
Jumpstart, potentials and hindrances
Many European organisations have committed to and formally adopted gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting strategies; however, their implementation has not been as effective as anticipated. The Department of Gender Studies at the University of Iceland has been collaborating with public sector organisations in Iceland, a City and a University, to advance implementation of these strategies. The collaboration entails post-graduate students analys…
All that Glitters is Not Gold
After the financial crisis of 2008, a time of reputation rebuilding began in Iceland. Women had been absent in the process leading up to the crisis and a strong discourse emerged calling for women to restore the country and blaming the crisis on the male ‘business Vikings”. At the same time, Iceland became a frontrunner in the Global Gender Gap Report. This article draws on scholarship on the discursive construction of gender equality, nation bra…
Structural Hindrances or Less Driven Women? Managers’ Views on Corporate Quotas
High levels of women in politics and paid work, together with the availability of paid parental leave and public child care, make the gender imbalance in business leadership in Iceland all the more confounding. This study analyzes business leaders’ attitudes toward gender and leadership positions after a gender quota law for company boards was implemented in 2013. We explore support for gender quotas and whether it is related to how respondents e…
Top managers and the gendered interplay of organizations and family life
Purpose Iceland, along with the other Nordic countries, is seen as an international frontrunner in gender equality and equal sharing of responsibility for paid and unpaid work is part of the official ideology. Nevertheless, the number of women in leadership positions remains low. The purpose of this study is to analyse the practices that (re)produce power imbalances between women and men in business leadership both at the macro and the micro leve…
New managerialism in the academy
In the era of global competition, academic institutions are increasingly being managed as efficient organizations where early career academics are the most vulnerable group in the academic hierarchy. We use gender budgeting to deconstruct the financial and managerial processes and procedures in a selected academic institution in Iceland. Drawing on multiple data collection methods, we argue that new managerialism enhances the precarious position …
Testing the concept of academic housework in a European setting
In the labour market women’s jobs have frequently been conceptually and literally tied to housework and hence thought of as unskilled and therefore undervalued. Although academic institutions have undergone changes, the fact that women still carry the main responsibility for domestic and caring tasks continues to follow them into the academic work environment. In this explorative study we focus on the gendered aspects of undervalued work in acade…
The Realization of Gender Quotas in Post-collapse Iceland
Gender quotas have become a way to increase women’s participation in leading positions in economic life. Iceland enacted corporate gender quotas in 2013, requiring a minimum of 40% of each gender. These quotas were legalized after the financial collapse in 2008, which many blamed on male dominance of the economy. The focus of this paper is the timeframe of the turn to quotas, and the media discourse and parliamentary debate regarding men and wome…
Well-earned respectability or legitimation of masculinities? Powerful and publicly celebrated men in pre- and post-collapse Iceland
Language Purism and Gender
In this essay, the authors offer the case of Iceland as a “language frontier” for the trans* community, given the nationalistic linguistic context and the deeply gendered nature of the Icelandic language. We begin by briefly outlining the legal situation with respect to trans* identification and the ability to transition. We then outline the conflict over terminology in the context of the Icelandic language and Icelandic national identity. Using …
Queering the trans
Activists in feminist, queer, and trans movements share in common a critique of the existing gender order. Yet activists may have different understandings of what is wrong with existing gender arrangements, and different understandings of what might be required to establish greater social equality. Using data from interviews with activists in the feminist, queer, and trans movements in Iceland, this article looks at the ways that gender equality …
Academic career making and the double-edged role of academic housework
Internationalisation, competition and performance orientation are nowadays essential in the managing and financing of universities. This pattern has intensified with the austerity measures and fiscal consolidation that followed the financial crisis in 2008. This article examines the academic labour process and career making of academics from a gender perspective. Based on findings deriving from an Icelandic University, we argue that the austerity…
Gender Bias in the Media
The news media are the most influential sources of information, ideas and opinion for most people around the world. Who appears in the news and who is left out, what is covered and what is not and how people and events are portrayed matter. Research has consistently shown that women are underrepresented in the news and that gender stereotypes are reinforced in and through the media. The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action recognised …
A Feminist Theory of Corruption
Half a decade into a new global economic crisis, most policymakers, pundits, and scholars discuss the situation in nongendered ways, carting out long-standing criticisms of bloated states or of neoliberalism, despite powerful feminist critiques. At the same time, feminist scholars, particularly those within feminist political science (FPS) studying advanced democracies, have been struggling with a “central paradox . ... The widespread formal adop…
Equity and Dignity in Maternity Care Provision in Canada, Finland and Iceland
Gender Equality and the Intersectional Turn
The article explores recent theoretical debates on intersectionality and gender equality. It addresses problems and potentialities of the emerging ‘equality for all’ policies, drawing upon empirical examples from equality work in Iceland (equal opportunities workers, minority groups, the City of Reykjavik and the University of Iceland). Practical equality work will be viewed through the lenses of feminist theories on ntersectionality and related …
Academic career making and the double-edged role of academic housework
Internationalisation, competition and performance orientation are nowadays essential in the managing and financing of universities. This pattern has intensified with the austerity measures and fiscal consolidation that followed the financial crisis in 2008. This article examines the academic labour process and career making of academics from a gender perspective. Based on findings deriving from an Icelandic University, we argue that the austerity…
New managerialism in the academy
In the era of global competition, academic institutions are increasingly being managed as efficient organizations where early career academics are the most vulnerable group in the academic hierarchy. We use gender budgeting to deconstruct the financial and managerial processes and procedures in a selected academic institution in Iceland. Drawing on multiple data collection methods, we argue that new managerialism enhances the precarious position …
All that Glitters is Not Gold
After the financial crisis of 2008, a time of reputation rebuilding began in Iceland. Women had been absent in the process leading up to the crisis and a strong discourse emerged calling for women to restore the country and blaming the crisis on the male ‘business Vikings”. At the same time, Iceland became a frontrunner in the Global Gender Gap Report. This article draws on scholarship on the discursive construction of gender equality, nation bra…
A Feminist Theory of Corruption
Half a decade into a new global economic crisis, most policymakers, pundits, and scholars discuss the situation in nongendered ways, carting out long-standing criticisms of bloated states or of neoliberalism, despite powerful feminist critiques. At the same time, feminist scholars, particularly those within feminist political science (FPS) studying advanced democracies, have been struggling with a “central paradox . ... The widespread formal adop…
Equity and Dignity in Maternity Care Provision in Canada, Finland and Iceland
The Realization of Gender Quotas in Post-collapse Iceland
Gender quotas have become a way to increase women’s participation in leading positions in economic life. Iceland enacted corporate gender quotas in 2013, requiring a minimum of 40% of each gender. These quotas were legalized after the financial collapse in 2008, which many blamed on male dominance of the economy. The focus of this paper is the timeframe of the turn to quotas, and the media discourse and parliamentary debate regarding men and wome…
Structural Hindrances or Less Driven Women? Managers’ Views on Corporate Quotas
High levels of women in politics and paid work, together with the availability of paid parental leave and public child care, make the gender imbalance in business leadership in Iceland all the more confounding. This study analyzes business leaders’ attitudes toward gender and leadership positions after a gender quota law for company boards was implemented in 2013. We explore support for gender quotas and whether it is related to how respondents e…
Top managers and the gendered interplay of organizations and family life
Purpose Iceland, along with the other Nordic countries, is seen as an international frontrunner in gender equality and equal sharing of responsibility for paid and unpaid work is part of the official ideology. Nevertheless, the number of women in leadership positions remains low. The purpose of this study is to analyse the practices that (re)produce power imbalances between women and men in business leadership both at the macro and the micro leve…
When Discourse is Hijacked
Following a qualitative analysis of interviews with 16 current and former social scientists at the University of Iceland, we argue for the existence of an individual and implicit form of resistance to gender equality that we call “hijacking the discourse.” In a neoliberal culture of higher education that favors individual emancipation in an academic marketplace, a collective understanding of inequality as rooted in larger systems of power is in d…
Queering the trans
Activists in feminist, queer, and trans movements share in common a critique of the existing gender order. Yet activists may have different understandings of what is wrong with existing gender arrangements, and different understandings of what might be required to establish greater social equality. Using data from interviews with activists in the feminist, queer, and trans movements in Iceland, this article looks at the ways that gender equality …
Making Space for Men? Men’s Participation in the Field of Gender Equality in Iceland from 1990-2020
Men's involvement in the work for gender equality in the ‘feminist paradise’ of Iceland is a politically prioritised but under-researched area. We examine the premise for men's involvement in gender equality work from 1990 to 2020 in terms of initiatives, ideological underpinnings, and what opportunities and challenges it brings to the field. Using thematic analysis of archive material, committee reports, newspapers, and other data we demonstrate…
Justice and utility
Despite the adoption of board gender quotas in several countries, little is known about the views on quotas outside the boards. In this article, we expand the dialogue about gender quotas by examining managers' arguments (justice and utility) for quotas as a measure to increase gender balance in top‐level managements. Drawing on a survey of 504 men and women managers in 244 of Iceland's largest companies, we show that social‐justice arguments and…
Well-earned respectability or legitimation of masculinities? Powerful and publicly celebrated men in pre- and post-collapse Iceland
Gender Equality and the Intersectional Turn
The article explores recent theoretical debates on intersectionality and gender equality. It addresses problems and potentialities of the emerging ‘equality for all’ policies, drawing upon empirical examples from equality work in Iceland (equal opportunities workers, minority groups, the City of Reykjavik and the University of Iceland). Practical equality work will be viewed through the lenses of feminist theories on ntersectionality and related …
Gender Equality and the Intersectional Turn
The article explores recent theoretical debates on intersectionality and gender equality. It addresses problems and potentialities of the emerging ‘equality for all’ policies, drawing upon empirical examples from equality work in Iceland (equal opportunities workers, minority groups, the City of Reykjavik and the University of Iceland). Practical equality work will be viewed through the lenses of feminist theories on ntersectionality and related …
Equity and Dignity in Maternity Care Provision in Canada, Finland and Iceland
A Feminist Theory of Corruption
Half a decade into a new global economic crisis, most policymakers, pundits, and scholars discuss the situation in nongendered ways, carting out long-standing criticisms of bloated states or of neoliberalism, despite powerful feminist critiques. At the same time, feminist scholars, particularly those within feminist political science (FPS) studying advanced democracies, have been struggling with a “central paradox . ... The widespread formal adop…
Gender Bias in the Media
The news media are the most influential sources of information, ideas and opinion for most people around the world. Who appears in the news and who is left out, what is covered and what is not and how people and events are portrayed matter. Research has consistently shown that women are underrepresented in the news and that gender stereotypes are reinforced in and through the media. The 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action recognised …
Language Purism and Gender
In this essay, the authors offer the case of Iceland as a “language frontier” for the trans* community, given the nationalistic linguistic context and the deeply gendered nature of the Icelandic language. We begin by briefly outlining the legal situation with respect to trans* identification and the ability to transition. We then outline the conflict over terminology in the context of the Icelandic language and Icelandic national identity. Using …
Queering the trans
Activists in feminist, queer, and trans movements share in common a critique of the existing gender order. Yet activists may have different understandings of what is wrong with existing gender arrangements, and different understandings of what might be required to establish greater social equality. Using data from interviews with activists in the feminist, queer, and trans movements in Iceland, this article looks at the ways that gender equality …
Academic career making and the double-edged role of academic housework
Internationalisation, competition and performance orientation are nowadays essential in the managing and financing of universities. This pattern has intensified with the austerity measures and fiscal consolidation that followed the financial crisis in 2008. This article examines the academic labour process and career making of academics from a gender perspective. Based on findings deriving from an Icelandic University, we argue that the austerity…
Testing the concept of academic housework in a European setting
In the labour market women’s jobs have frequently been conceptually and literally tied to housework and hence thought of as unskilled and therefore undervalued. Although academic institutions have undergone changes, the fact that women still carry the main responsibility for domestic and caring tasks continues to follow them into the academic work environment. In this explorative study we focus on the gendered aspects of undervalued work in acade…
The Realization of Gender Quotas in Post-collapse Iceland
Gender quotas have become a way to increase women’s participation in leading positions in economic life. Iceland enacted corporate gender quotas in 2013, requiring a minimum of 40% of each gender. These quotas were legalized after the financial collapse in 2008, which many blamed on male dominance of the economy. The focus of this paper is the timeframe of the turn to quotas, and the media discourse and parliamentary debate regarding men and wome…
Well-earned respectability or legitimation of masculinities? Powerful and publicly celebrated men in pre- and post-collapse Iceland
Top managers and the gendered interplay of organizations and family life
Purpose Iceland, along with the other Nordic countries, is seen as an international frontrunner in gender equality and equal sharing of responsibility for paid and unpaid work is part of the official ideology. Nevertheless, the number of women in leadership positions remains low. The purpose of this study is to analyse the practices that (re)produce power imbalances between women and men in business leadership both at the macro and the micro leve…
New managerialism in the academy
In the era of global competition, academic institutions are increasingly being managed as efficient organizations where early career academics are the most vulnerable group in the academic hierarchy. We use gender budgeting to deconstruct the financial and managerial processes and procedures in a selected academic institution in Iceland. Drawing on multiple data collection methods, we argue that new managerialism enhances the precarious position …
Jumpstart, potentials and hindrances
Many European organisations have committed to and formally adopted gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting strategies; however, their implementation has not been as effective as anticipated. The Department of Gender Studies at the University of Iceland has been collaborating with public sector organisations in Iceland, a City and a University, to advance implementation of these strategies. The collaboration entails post-graduate students analys…
All that Glitters is Not Gold
After the financial crisis of 2008, a time of reputation rebuilding began in Iceland. Women had been absent in the process leading up to the crisis and a strong discourse emerged calling for women to restore the country and blaming the crisis on the male ‘business Vikings”. At the same time, Iceland became a frontrunner in the Global Gender Gap Report. This article draws on scholarship on the discursive construction of gender equality, nation bra…
Structural Hindrances or Less Driven Women? Managers’ Views on Corporate Quotas
High levels of women in politics and paid work, together with the availability of paid parental leave and public child care, make the gender imbalance in business leadership in Iceland all the more confounding. This study analyzes business leaders’ attitudes toward gender and leadership positions after a gender quota law for company boards was implemented in 2013. We explore support for gender quotas and whether it is related to how respondents e…
When Discourse is Hijacked
Following a qualitative analysis of interviews with 16 current and former social scientists at the University of Iceland, we argue for the existence of an individual and implicit form of resistance to gender equality that we call “hijacking the discourse.” In a neoliberal culture of higher education that favors individual emancipation in an academic marketplace, a collective understanding of inequality as rooted in larger systems of power is in d…
Female enterprise on a transnational border
The aim of this article is to contribute to the historical discussion of women entrepreneurs. It demonstrates that in Iceland, historical research on this theme has been scarce. The special focus of this article is to analyse the entrepreneurial agency of an East Icelandic female businesswoman, Pálína Waage (1864–1935), against this background. Based on her autobiography, diaries, and other local accounts, we analyse Pálína’s work and life trajec…
Through an Intersectional Lens
Using an intersectional lens, this study analyses data from a nationally representative sample in Iceland, examining violence among marginalized groups of different social locations. The results highlight the precarious position of disabled women and show a significant increase of risk of violence with each marginalized social location women inhabit. Results illustrate how precarity and exposure increases for multiply marginalized women, demonstr…
Justice and utility
Despite the adoption of board gender quotas in several countries, little is known about the views on quotas outside the boards. In this article, we expand the dialogue about gender quotas by examining managers' arguments (justice and utility) for quotas as a measure to increase gender balance in top‐level managements. Drawing on a survey of 504 men and women managers in 244 of Iceland's largest companies, we show that social‐justice arguments and…
Making Space for Men? Men’s Participation in the Field of Gender Equality in Iceland from 1990-2020
Men's involvement in the work for gender equality in the ‘feminist paradise’ of Iceland is a politically prioritised but under-researched area. We examine the premise for men's involvement in gender equality work from 1990 to 2020 in terms of initiatives, ideological underpinnings, and what opportunities and challenges it brings to the field. Using thematic analysis of archive material, committee reports, newspapers, and other data we demonstrate…
Opportunities and Constraints
Academic institutions reproduce the dynamics of gendered power relations and maintain gendered inequalities, a process exacerbated by neoliberalism in higher education. In this article, we study how the interplay between conditions within academia and welfare issues affects academics' decision‐making regarding their careers and family life trajectories in different welfare regimes. We draw on open‐ended interviews with 26 men and women working in…
Sociology (20 works) · Political science (18 works) · Gender Studies (17 works) · Gender Studies (15 works) · Law (12 works) · Law (11 works) · Gender Diversity and Inequality (10 works) · Gender Politics and Representation (10 works) · Economics (9 works) · Gender equality (8 works)