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adopted and it first enters into force in 2015. Hopefully, this can become a measure that will prepare the military<br />
organization for a more diverse culture and with time lead to the military becoming an attractive and an<br />
employer of choice in Norway. This will more naturally lead to an increased percentage of female participation<br />
and hopefully the forces will also by then be able to retain these women.<br />
6.0 CONCLUDING REMARKS<br />
This thesis has been carried out as a part of a larger project on masculinity cultures in the military, where the<br />
aim of this part of the project has been to get knowledge on the measures set out in the countries of comparison<br />
in order to recruit and retain women in the armed forces. By performing a comparative analysis, it might be<br />
possible to adopt some of the measures set out in the other countries that have not been carried out in Norway,<br />
as well as to look at lessons learned in the comparative countries. Relying heavily on policy documents<br />
and what my informants have presented as measures taken, this thesis has been able to create a comprehensive<br />
framework of how all three countries have taken action by increasing the representation of women in their<br />
forces to meet international obligations and to be in line with the rest of the society in terms of gender equality.<br />
The use of policy documents and interviews of central informants on the issue of recruiting and retaining women<br />
in the military has created an overview and important insights of measures taken. Unfortunately, the lack of<br />
information available on some areas has made it necessary to settle with more descriptive presentations in<br />
these cases. This is due to how military organizations are careful on giving out information as well as to whom<br />
they are giving information. While the issues and processes can be studied in various ways including from afar,<br />
the interviews with people involved in the processes have contributed to more in-depth knowledge for the<br />
analysis, as some processes and measures also happen outside the formal setting and thus become impossible<br />
to trace only through official documents.<br />
Theoretical perspectives on how masculinities are persuaded in the military and obstacles women face when<br />
entering into male dominated occupations have contributed in explaining the empirical findings collected and<br />
the challenges the defense sector face in the process of recruiting and retaining women for positions within the<br />
military. Gender research presented has also shown how much focus lies on reaching a critical mass with the<br />
belief that by doing so it will improve the situation, perspectives that explain well the current objectives set in<br />
Norway with its focus 20 percent by 2020. I have not based my theoretical framework on an assumption that<br />
reaching a level of 20 percent women will solve all problems, but rather that a persistently high share of women<br />
will at least indicate that the defense is a livable place for a certain amount of women. The defense has then<br />
succeeded to some extent in reaching its objective. This is however not a guarantee for the process to continue<br />
rolling. Perspectives on necessary instruments in order to successfully implement a policy has further shown<br />
that a lack of enough commitment together with missing evaluation of the measures set out contribute to<br />
making a specific goal difficult to reach as well as to use the measures as exemplary cases.<br />
This thesis has shown how a highly relevant issue at the time being is dealt with in all three countries, where<br />
gender equality is presented as corner stone’s in society. While it has been difficult to point out certain<br />
measures that may explain the success Canada has experienced in terms of numeric representation of women<br />
or why Sweden that is so similar also seem to recruit more women, the choice of taking societal factors as well<br />
as a historical accounts into the thesis has made it possible to more clearly see where the difference lies. Even<br />
though many of the measures set out are similar across the countries, with similar obstacles identified, they<br />
differ in width and time. These findings can hopefully provide greater insight and knowledge for the further<br />
process of recruiting and retaining women in the military.<br />
.<br />
© Oxford Research AS 101