Kvinnliga idrottslärare i den offentliga och privata skolsfären 2002-2020

"Female physical education teachers in the public and private sphere 2002-2020" is the final part of the research project "Female gymnastics directors' lives and careers 1890-2020" whose purpose is to analyze the lives and careers of female gymnastics directors’/physical education teachers from 1890 to 2020. Three studies have been completed within the project in which the lives and careers of female students graduating from the Royal Central Institute of Gymnastics/Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH) in 1893, 1932 and 1972 have been analyzed (see preliminary results). In each study the lives and careers of the subjects have been examined in connection with major societal issues.

The purpose with the research project is that when all studies are completed they will form the basis for a monograph that analyzes the lives and careers of female physical educators for more than a century. Estimated time of publication 2021. "Female physical education teachers in the private and public sphere 2002-2020” examines the professional careers and life stories of the women who graduated from the GIH in 2005 and 2006.

The focus of the study is on issues concerning working environment, gender equality and the status of the profession. To make comparison possible issues that permeate the entire research project will also be addressed: Which women applied to GIH? What social and cultural assets did they have? What career paths have been opened for them? What did marriage and family formation mean for their lives and careers? How did the profession change during their professional life?

The project's first two studies are in the main based on unique correspondence books that circulated between the members of the women’s classes of 1893 and 1932. The latter studies are based on material created by questionnaires and interviews. A questionnaire will thus be sent out in the autumn of 2020 to the respondents. Among them between six and eight will also be interviewed in depth. The role and function of especially female physical educators are to a large extent underexplored and as they have played a prominent role in the field of sport and physical education it is an important to learn more about them.

Thanks to the fact that the study is a part of a larger research project, it will contribute to create unique knowledge of the professional careers and lives of a group of highly educated women spanning more than a century, that is in different historical contexts.