Gendered Outcomes of Activation Policy – a Case from Norway (WITHDRAWN)

Background and purpose:

The Norwegian Qualification Program (QP) was implemented in 2007, as Norway’s most comprehensive activation program, aiming at preventing poverty and social exclusion through labour market integration of social welfare recipients and long-term unemployed service users. With a human resource development approach, tailored measures and close and long-time follow up from social workers, the aim of the QP is to assist service users in qualifying for the labour market. The aim of this paper is to explore the gendered outcomes of The Norwegian Qualification Program, with a particular focus on the participants’ identity work and status.

Methods:

The study has a qualitative design, and the data were produced by ethnographic observations of 33 follow-up meetings with QP-participants in four Norwegian labour and welfare offices (NAV) and 16 interviews with QP-participants. The data is analyzed with a narrative approach and with theories of recognition as theoretical framework.

”Recognition” as analytical perspective is widely used in social work research, in particular Axel Honneth’s theory of recognition, which is a micro-level theory focusing on individuals’ identity-formation and self-realization. Nancy Fraser’s theory of recognition, however, focuses on macro-level dynamics by tying recognition to institutionalized patterns of cultural values and the status order of society, and is less used in social work research. By combining the two theories this study ties participants’ identity work in the activation process to societal recognition and status within a gender-sensitized understanding of work and employment.

Findings:

Findings suggest that female participants achieve more from activation than male participants, regarding skills-enhancement, self-realization and improved employability and thereby strengthen their work-identity as a result of participating in the activation program. Male QP participants, however, do not acquire the expected outcomes of activation, such as skill-enhancement and increased employability. In this process male participants’ work-identity is gradually reduced. Through efforts to improve their employability female participants adhere to activation policy ideals and societal cultural values and norms, and thereby acquire enhanced status in society. Male participants, however, by continuing being “hard to employ” do not adhere to institutionalized cultural values that the social democratic welfare state and activation policy has about the able-bodied citizen in working age, and in particular about able-bodied men in working age. Ultimately male participants may experience a status quo or status loss resulting from the activation process.

Conclusion and implications:

The QP as a mainstream activation policy seem to have unintended gendered outcomes, through which female participants obtain enhanced status in society while male participants continues at status quo or risk status loss. The findings have implications both for social work practice and for activation policy; questioning whether relationship-based follow-up of participants is a “genderified” social work practice and whether activation with the human resource development approach is fruitful for those who “only want a job”.