Seminar: Jo Krøjer

Presenter: Jo Krøjer, Phd., Associate Professor, Dept. of People and Technology, Roskilde University. Head of the research group Organisation, Ethics, and Social Sustainability. 

As a gender and work life researcher, Krøjer specializes in feminist and participatory, interventionist research. She has co-edited three volumes on Social Intervention and Sustainability and published extensively on work life, gender, inequality, and sexual harassment in articles, book chapters and special issues. Krøjer is part of the SexismEDU-group, who initiated the petition against sexism in DK universities. Currently, Krøjer is part of the research project ‘Feeling differences and inequality in ECEC’.

Invisible? Gender and bodily materiality in early childhood education and care
The presentation addresses how gender as bodily materiality is included in the professional practice in Danish ECEC. The point of departure is the fact that the professionals are required to include gender equality and equal opportunities for all children, regardless of gender, in the everyday practice in daycare centers. Based in a multi-method, empirical study consisting of observations and research workshops, I examine The professional gaze, which is part of the ECEC-professionals’ interactions with the children. The aim is to show how this professional gaze comprises a paradoxical, partial blindness that makes children's gender partially invisible in professional practice. This invisibility presents a barrier to the professionals' endeavors for gender equality and equal opportunities for all children.