Kvinners suksess i høyere utdanning
siden 70-tallet har omformet det norske samfunnet nedenfra, like
fullt som det har forandret synet på hva kvinner duger til. Kjønnsrevolusjonen
på universitetet er slik blitt en selvsagt tematikk i fortellingene
om universitetet i det likestilte Norge. Leser man studentaviser
og dokumenter fra UiO i dette sagnomsuste tiåret og det påfølgende,
dannes derimot et annet bilde av likestillingslandet: For også utenlandske
studenter krevde likestilling og inkludering i et universitetssystem
som i økende grad skilte mellom «vesten» og «resten», «hvite» og
«fargede». Denne artikkelen viser hvordan et fokus på studentmigrasjonen
utfordrer veletablerte forestillinger om universitetets samfunnsintegrerende
funksjon i det moderne Norge.
In Gender’s Shadow: Foreign Students
and Universities Disintegrating Role
in Modern Norway
The mass entry of women into Norwegian higher education has been
viewed by historians as a key arena for social and national integration.
Apart from supporting near universal labour-market participation
among women, the university formed a central sphere for feminist
mobilization «from below» against systemic prejudice and practice
in both the university and society. However, female students were
not alone in challenging discrimination in this decade. Foreign
students also mobilized, demanding equal treatment with Norwegian
students in the wake of the «immigration stop» in 1975, which targeted
unskilled immigrants from Asia and Africa. While Norwegian authorities
later made some exceptions for non-Western students, the leading
higher education institution, the University of Oslo, continued
with discriminatory practices against foreigners. In 1981, for instance,
the University introduced a quota system for applicants from non-Western
countries in order to give room for students from «countries with
systems and cultures of education more similar to our own». This
made the University a leading «producer» of racial discourses in
late modern Norway even as it complied with most of the demands
from «white» feminists. This practice contributed significantly
to impeding the integration of non-Western immigrants into Norwegian
society and reinforced the notion that women’s issues in Norway
are detached and separate from the fight against racism and ethnic
discrimination.