Män och kvinnors uppfattning om arbetslöshet i kris -En studie om hur manliga och kvinnliga studenters uppfattningar av risken för arbetslöshet har påverkats av Covid-19-pandemin

Sammanfattning: During spring of 2020, the Covid-19-pandemic broke out and gave rise to a greater risk of unemployment due to redundancies and precarious employment. Young people are reported as one of the most vulnerable groups to unemployment during the pandemic. The purpose of the study is to gain deeper knowledge about male and female students' perceptions of risks of unemployment during the Covid-19-pandemic. The purpose is answered on the basis of the following questions; how have students' perceptions of risk regarding unemployment been affected by the Covid-19-pandemic, how do perceptions of risk about unemployment differ between male and female students and what do students define as risk. Previous research indicates that gender influences the perception of risks based on insecurity and vulnerability regarding work, but also physical violence. The theoretical framework used is Furlong & Cartmel's theorizing of individualized risk and the conditions of young people in late modernity, and West & Zimmerman's theorizing of Doing Gender. The survey in form of qualitative interviews shows how the perception of unemployment as a risk has become more apparent individually during the pandemic. The responsibility of the risk for unemployment has been individualized and the interviewees feel that they have to manage risk themselves. Despite that, the students perceive that the consequences of the pandemic are responsible for unemployment instead of individual performance. Unemployment based on the gender aspect shows no significant difference in risk perception between men and women, however, there are preconceived notions that women experience a greater risk of unemployment than men. We concluded that this may be due to the perceived general anxiety of the interviewees, rather than the necessary gender they have.