Level playing field? Feminist observations on global/local articulations of the re-gendering and restructuring of educational work

In the world of educational work since the mid 1980s there has been much talk of restructuring. This reflects postmodern thinking, which favours decentralizing decisions to those at the work face, and encouraging multi-skilled and flexible workers. This article presents a feminist analysis of how such policies are reflected at the local level in four instances: Australia, Sweden, New Zealand and Israel. These examples indicate that management practices tend to be more modernist (hierarchical, controlling and centralizing) than postmodernist, and often have highly inequitable effects for women teachers. The article asserts that gender inequities in educational work have assumed a different form but have not been eliminated. However, the author argues that such global tendencies need to be considered in the light of specific cultural, economic and geographical factors, which affect how work is structured and how education is shaped.