Vocations and Learning (2008) 1:173–190 DOI 10.1007/s12186-008-9010-5 O R I G I N A L PA P E R

Gender, Learning and Social Practice Gendered Discourses in the Bakery Klaus Nielsen

Received: 5 February 2008 / Accepted: 30 April 2008 / Published online: 5 June 2008 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008

Abstract The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between learning and gender at the workplace, by means of an empirical study. It is argued that gendered participation is learnt at the workplace and does not constitute a ‘natural’ division. The empirical part of the paper is based on a qualitative study of a bakery in which gender and learning in vocational training are the key focus. For centuries, bakeries have been masculine workplaces. However, in recent years, the percentage of female apprentices has increased. This paper takes a situated perspective on learning and gender, by focusing on how everyday work practices influence the discourses in workplace practice, and how this affects participant perceptions of themselves. Furthermore, Holzkamp’s distinction between expansive and restrictive perspective on learning is central to understanding the role of gendered discourses. In the first part of the paper, gender is situated in the bakeries, emphasizing the historical circumstances, physical environment and economic aspects that create a specific gendered discourse. In the second part of the paper, the focus is on how various ways of learning are situated in the bakeries. Keywords Gender . Learning . Situated learning . Apprenticeship . Discourse . Vocational training

Introduction The issue of gender segregation in vocational education, has implications beyond the mere disparity of gender of those participating in this educational process.1 This includes the gendered nature of learning in workplaces, where, for instance, labour has always been highly masculinised. 1

The author is grateful to Dr. Brian Bloch for his comprehensive editing of the manuscript.

K. Nielsen (*) Department of Psychology, Aarhus University, Aarhus 8000, Denmark e-mail: [email protected]

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Even a cursory review of statistics reveals an entrenched and consistent pattern of gender division within the Danish vocational education system. Male apprentices are found far more frequently in physically demanding fields, which also use machinery and technology, while female apprentices are mainly found in service and care professions (Tanggaard 2006; Christensen 2001). Furthermore, gender inequality is consistent over time. Whereas, in 1995, 56% of apprentices in the Danish vocational system were male, and 44% were female, in 2004 there has been little change with 55% apprentices were male, while 45% were female. An examination of the specific branches of vocational education also reveals a consistent pattern of inequality. In vocational social and health training, in 1995, 6.5% of students were male, while 93.5% were female, whereas in 2004, 7.5% students were male and 92.5% female. In the building and construction sector of vocational education, the same pattern a significant predominance of male apprentices is evident. In 1995, 92.5% apprentices were male, while 7.5% were female, whereas in 2004, 92% apprentices were male and 8% female. The same pattern is also evident in vocational mechanics and transportation training. In 1995, 98% of the apprentices in mechanics and transportation training were male, while only 2% were female, whereas in 2004, 95.5% were male and only 4.5% female (Statistisk information, Uvm; Nielsen 2005). The same consistent gender segregation is found in other countries as well, and there are no signs that this pattern will change at any point in the new future. Tanggaard (2006) proposes there is a gendered basis to career choice, with the majority of women choosing professions closely associated with household-like activities that are now located outside the home, such as working with children, caring for the elderly, cleaning and cooking. Based on her research in Norway, Mjelde (2001) makes the case that gendered distinctions are almost ‘natural’ in young people’s choice of vocational education. In general, gendered occupational stereotypes seem to be deeply embedded in vocational education (Probert 1999; Fuller et al. 2005). Furthermore, in Willis’ classic work ‘Learning to Labour’, issues of gender were identified as playing a crucial role. One of the significant reasons for young working class men to become manual labour workers has to do with societal characterisations of gender. A ‘real man’ works with his hands, and Willis argued that gender was just as decisive for the choice of education as class (Willis 1977, p. 176). Even though Willis conducted his research in the 1970s, little seems to have changed since then in the context of gender segregation as it plays out in vocational education. Gender still plays a pivotal role in shaping young people’s choice of career. This paper analyses the relationship between learning and gender at the workplace, based on an investigation of apprenticeship learning in the bakery sector. The question framing this paper is: To what extent is the maintenance of gender differences something that participants learn in everyday practice? It is proposed that gendered participation is learnt at the workplace and does not constitute a ‘natural’ division. The paper mainly focuses on the learning processes of female apprentices at the workplace. Gender and Vocations For centuries, bakeries have been masculine workplaces. However, in recent years, the percentage of female apprentices has increased. One of the reasons for this development

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relates to economic developments within the baking industry. Currently, bakeries often find themselves in financially precarious situations. ‘Bake offs’, in particular, are putting traditional or conventional bakeries under financial pressure. ‘Bake off’ is a concept used by gas stations and kiosks. They have small ovens where they can ‘bake off’ preprepared bread and cakes and sell them, freshly baked, to customers. Consequently, over the last 10 years, the number of old-style bakeries in Denmark has declined from 1,800 to about 1,300 bakeries. The crisis in the bakery trade is also reflected in the number of baker apprentices. In 1995, there were 1,324 apprentices in vocational training in bakeries, but by 2004, the number had dropped to 589. In 1995, 67% of those apprentices were male while 33% were female, whereas in 2004, 57% apprentices were male and 43% female. Within the last decade, each year has seen approximately 10% more female apprentices than male apprentices completing their apprenticeships as bakers (Statistisk information, Uvm 2008). As the statistics show, issues of gender and learning are intricately and closely associated with earnings and status, a tendency found in other areas as well (see e.g. Probert 1999), and the issue of female apprentice numbers increasing in a sector that is struggling. To date, only limited research has been conducted on gender, learning and vocational training. Most studies focus on how the workplace itself is a site for the reproduction of gender differences due to gendered division of labour at the workplace. Fenwick (2004) argues that male dominance in craftswork or trades is being reinforced in vocational education. She argues that female modes of learning focus on relational knowledge, and that “emotional labour” is systematically undervalued and erased from workplace hierarchies, thereby primarily supporting a male crafts identity. In a qualitative study of how electro-mechanical and dairy apprentices learn their trade, Tanggaard (2006) focuses on the masculine lifestyle at the workplace, which manifests itself in symbolic discourses and the dominant values. The symbolic discourse displays itself in topics of discussion (e.g. woman, cars, etc.), dress code, personal relations, patterns of consumption and so on. This discourse is generally handed down from tradesworkers (i.e. tradesmen)to apprentices in everyday practice. The masculine lifestyle also prevails in the value structure at the workplace, where competition, a rough tone of voice and depersonalised interaction are dominating values. Female apprentices react through resignation or by assuming an uncritical part in the masculine lifestyle. In general, feminine values are seen as deviant in these kinds of workplaces and the gendered culture at the workplace is reproduced as part of learning the trade (Phillips and Taylor 1980; Game and Pringle 1983; Probert 1999; Tanggaard 2006). From vocational education studies, it is evident that a high degree of gender stereotypes and gender segregation prevail. But how are these gender stereotypes reproduced and maintained in workplaces where apprentices work and learn? In order to consider and disentangle the dynamics of gender stereotypes and their replication, studies about the learning of mathematics are helpful in informing issues of gender in this context. Gender and Education In recent years, research on gender has been increasingly critical of the essentialist perspective on gender, which establishes an association between a stable, uniform

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fixed set of characteristics in a person and his/her gender. In most cases, essentialist perspectives regard femininity as nurturing, close to nature, emotional, negatively affected by hormones, empathic and vulnerable (Burr 1995, p. 54).2 In particular, the constructivist perspective has been critical of the essentialist perspective on gender (Collin 2003). In a constructivist perspective, gender is seen as a response or construction that emerges in certain situations, and its analytical basis should not be the individual, but rather the interaction that develops in practice (Butler 1993). Issues of gender are reproduced in different forms at home, in school, at work, and are constantly negotiated and renegotiated through everyday interaction. Butler suggests that gender is generally conferred on people and groups as a static and immoveable set of competencies, attitudes and dispositions (ibid). By using the study of learning mathematics as an example, Boaler (2002) argues that a significant number of research projects on gender and learning mathematics assume an essentialist stand, by focusing on the attribution of anxiety and underachievement as consistent characteristics of female students. Dweck (1986) proposed maladaptive tendencies as a reason for the lower mathematical performance of some girls. Based on their research, Benbow and Stanley (1980) and Hyde (1990) argued that boys have a more natural ability for mathematics and that there must be a biological basis for gender differences. In these studies, different traits were either presented as typically male or female in connection with mathematics, rather than perceiving gender as a result of co-productions of people, society and environment. In order to appraise the constructive nature of the essentialist perspective in educational research, Hyde (1990) conducted a meta-analysis of gender differences in mathematics and found that there is a minimal difference in the achievements of boys and girls. Reviewing over 100 studies involving 3 million participants, she concluded that gender differences in mathematics were, in fact, extremely small and that achievement differences in mathematics have diminished over time. The greatest differences in mathematical achievement and participation are found at the most advanced levels. Gender differences have tended to occur on mathematical questions that assess spatial ability and problem solving. Also, these differences too, have been disputed. For instance, Boaler’s (2002) study of gender and education argued for the need to understand gender differences as constructed in relation to the constraints and affordances established in the environment. In a specific study of gender differences and mathematical achievement involving 300 students at two schools. This study concluded that issues of interaction and understanding played a crucial role. Boaler (2002) found that the main differences between boys and girls, when it came to mathematical achievement, was that many girls in schools that employed a procedure-oriented approach to mathematics, and became disaffected when the pedagogy of mathematics became more traditional. Gender differences in Boaler’s 2

Gender research has changed its scope within the last decade. In the 1970s and 1980s, gender research was primarily conducted from a feminist perspective, by focusing on oppression of women in various institutions. In later years, a broader focus on gender has dominated, whereby gender is seen as an issue that structures interaction for both men and women and connects the discussion of gender to epistemological matters.

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study were identifiable when pupils were confronted with traditional mathematics tuition. The boys repositioned their goals by focusing on competition and relative success. However, many of the girls did not re-orientate their goals in this way and, instead, continued to strive toward depth of understanding, which worked to their disadvantage within that particular classroom system (Boaler 2002. p. 134). Before they encountered this kind of teaching, both boys and girls generally strived toward depth of understanding. According to Boaler, gender inequalities are co-produced and we need to explore the learning environment in order to understand why the differences manifest themselves. Boaler (2002) concludes that there is a general lack of attention by researchers to the teaching and learning environment. This is problematic because small differences in teaching styles and in the learning environments may create different outcomes (i.e. learning) because of gender-based factors (p.139). This suggests that careful attention needs to be paid to social practice at the workplace and to how these arrangements make gender conspicuous. In the analysis below, the focus is narrowed to consider the specific and physical organisation of workplace social practice to understand how certain gender-specific ways of thinking and talking about gender reveal themselves. Gender as discourse, is closely related to social practice. This view is best investigated from a situated perspective on issues of learning and gender.

Gender and Situated Learning A situated perspective on learning provides an opportunity to illuminate and understand how social practice, identity and the actual organisation of a community of practice constitute issues of gender and learning opportunities in a bakery. A situated perspective on learning and gender discloses how the physical organisation of everyday practices influences the discourses in workplaces and how this shapes participant perceptions of themselves and of each other. From this perspective, it is proposed that social practice at the workplace is also a historically gendered culture; that a gendered discourse develops specific ways of thinking about gender and that learning is closely related to issues of identity. Focusing on social practice can account for the ways in which a gendered social practice shapes learning through the transformation of identity-in-practice (Brickhouse 2001). With respect to theories of learning, Brickhouse (2001) makes the case that situated learning has much to offer as a theory that embraces issues of gender and learning, because it emphasizes the notion of identity-formation. Transformation of identities is crucial to a situated perspective, and, since issues of gender are central to our understanding of who we are, issues of gender are also important in the debate on learning (Brickhouse 2001; Case and Jawitz 2003). In the empirical part of this paper, it is argued that social practice at the workplace is gendered, which, in this case, means that action, social space and practice are gendered in a physical sense, leading to a certain gendered discourses. What is learned in a (workplace) culture depends largely on the potential for participation and self-understanding offered within a dominant gendered discourse. Discourse is a difficult concept, mainly because many conflicting and overlapping definitions have been formulated from various theoretical and disciplinary standpoints (Fairclough

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1992, p. 4). In this context, discourse is understood as more than merely reflecting or representing social entities and relations, it constructs or ‘constitutes’ them. Different discourses constitute key entities (such as ‘mental health’ or ‘gender’) in different ways, and position people differently as social subjects (e.g. doctor or woman; ibid). The use of discourse here is inspired by Fairclough (1992) who argues for an analysis of discourses as an integrated part of social practice, rather than seeing discourses as merely linguistic interactions, without considering what they are affected by and how they, in turn, affect social practice. Taking gender to be an embedded part of social practice at a workplace, we need to address how gendered discourses and processes of learning sustain or transfer notions of gender. A Bourdieuean approach has been suggested to understand learning processes in relation to gender in vocational education and training (Colley et al. 2004). However, as emphasized by Lave (1997), there is profound silence about the nature of learning in Bourdieu’s work. She argues that there are only individuals, groups and classes, but no interacting participants in Bourdieu’s perspective. Consequently, learning is conceptualised as processes of embodiment, i.e. as matters of internalization, and the result of transmission, reinforcement and conditioning (p. 147). Instead, Lave (1997) proposes that a theory of learning focuses on transformation of the social world rather than merely focusing on reproduction (for an elaboration of this critique see Mehan 1992). Holzkamp’s (1983) makes a useful distinction between expansive and restrictive learning, by focusing on the individual’s motivation to learn. Expansive learning, here, is therefore understood as processes in which learners becomes motivated to acquire real structures of meaning (über reale Bedeutungszusammenhänge), based on their problems and their developing new potential for actions and activities (Handlungsmöglichkeiten). Holzkamp defines restricted learning as situations in which individuals are forced to learn something for specific reasons embedded in the work context, so that they do not develop personal motives to learn. Through this analytical dichotomy, Holzkamp’s objective was to stress that learning is not, in fact, the direct result of teaching. Even the most perfect teacher cannot ensure that expansive learning takes place for pupils. This conception is, therefore, quite distinct from Engestrom’s (1987) emphasis on environment and stands as antecedent to Fuller and Unwin’s (2004) conception of expansive and restrictive learning environments. Given Holzkamp’s work, the study reported and discussed here applies expansive and restricted issues of learning, but in ways that have been reformulated to include aspects of gender. In relation to gender issues, restricted learning is understood as a learning process in which learners accept and identify with a gendered essentialistic discourse at a workplace, yet in ways that can hinder the pursuit of their interest in the workplace and potentially the development of new action potential. Therefore, in this context, expansive learning is the process through which issues of gender are again made fluid (and unrestricted) in the interaction, and learning is comprehended as a process of opening up to the development of other ways of gendered existence at the workplace, thereby disclosing new action potential for the participants. It is argued in the empirical part of this paper, that male and female baker apprentices are confronted with a gendered discourse, which reinforces restrictive learning strategies. Expansive learning strategies are found to only be developed by a smaller group of female apprentices.

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Methodological Considerations Learning to become a baker was selected as one research area within a broader research project on learning in modern Danish vocational education. The bakery trade is one of the oldest in Denmark, yet because of technological developments, it is currently undergoing rapid transformation. Two methodological approaches were applied to illuminate and understand this learning: participant observation and semistructured interviews. In this study, the author himself worked as a first-day apprentice in three different bakeries. One bakery was located in a small supermarket in Aarhus and was run by a master, who employed one journeyman and one apprentice. The second bakery was located in a small town 45 km from Aarhus where one master and two journeymen worked. Finally, I worked for a day in a bakery in a larger supermarket with a master, ten journeymen and two apprentices. This bakery almost constituted an actual bread factory. Seven individual interviews with six male and one female bakers were conducted. Four of the interviewees were baker apprentices; two were journeymen and one was a master (using their gendered terminology). Furthermore, three group interviews were conducted with three groups of baker apprentices, with four apprentices in each group. Six males and six females were interviewed in these groups. The individual interviews had an average length of 73 min. The shortest individual interview took about an hour, while the longest took almost an hour and a half. The group interviews were typically an hour in length. The criteria for participant selection for the interviews included willingness to participate in tape-recorded interviews, and the ability to articulate experiences of learning as working bakers. The participants volunteered and were not paid for any part of their involvement. The interviews were designed as semi-structured interviews centred around general themes, but with the option of exploring specific themes in greater depth (Kvale 1996). Research questions were formulated to guide the interview. These questions centered on the following themes: learning resources and barriers at the workplace, gender and identity, learning trajectories and the relationship between learning at vocational schools and at the workplace. As the study progressed, the notion of gender, learning and living outside the workplace became increasingly important. Tapes were transcribed as accurately as possible (word for word) and approved by the interviewees. Analysis of the transcribed interviews followed a modified version of the pattern outlined by Giorgi (1983). In this analytical strategy, units of meaning are systematically singled out in the interview texts on the basis of the themes formulated in the interview guide. Patterns in the units of meaning were found and formed into a coherent whole, through the analyses of the data. The quotations used below in the article are those which best illustrate the points of research interest and all names are pseudonyms.

Empirical Findings In this section, the findings of the qualitative research are outlined. In the first part, gender is situated in the bakeries, emphasizing the historical circumstances, physical environment and financial aspects that create a specific discourse about gender. It is

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proposed that a notion of restrictive learning as closely related to an essentialistic discourse about gender is reinforced by the organisation of the physical environment, the historical and financial circumstances of the bakeries.

Gender, Tradition and Identity As noted, bakeries have been male territory for generations and dominated by specific male values, masculine narratives and male craftsmanship identity. As foreshadowed, statistics show female apprentices participation in, male-dominated trade is usually low, and their rate of withdrawal is high. When asked directly, most of the male apprentices, journeymen and masters expressed how they regard the development of gender integration as an improvement. However, it is not methodologically sound to restrict the analysis of gender to face-value statements. The notion of gender is rooted in social practice and traditions of the trade, as outlined below. A central feature of gendered social space centres on the physical strength and a functional discourse of manual labour. The notion of physical strength is a point of access to understand gendered culture at the workplace, because physical strength is a pivotal component of a male craftsmanship identity and central to the tradition of bakeries. It is in relationship to physical strength that gender becomes conspicuous in the interviews. Only a few years ago, female apprentices had to demonstrate that they too were as capable of working in the bakeries as the male workers. Initially, they had to prove themselves somehow. A female journeyman who was an apprentice some 15 years ago describes her first time in a bakery: So, the first time as an apprentice, when you came to the bakery, you had to lift the first 50 kilo sack of sugar and carry it to the table. If you could do it, they would always fill up (the ingredients) for you. However, if you could not carry that sack, all the bowls (for sugar and flower/KN) would always be empty. I: Why would they (the male bakers—KN) do that? S: Well, I believe it was some kind of strange revenge of the bakers, from the days when there were only men in the bakeries. Then, the general picture was that there would only be one woman in the bakery and the rest would be men. It was unusual for the men to be with female apprentices. So it was their silent revenge for the invasion of territory, due to baking always having been a maledominated trade, and what on earth were women doing there anyway? (Female apprentice, group interview). In this illustrative example, the narrative about gendered interaction focuses directly on the notion of physical strength. If the female apprentice is able to demonstrate the equivalent physical strength of a man, she is accepted in a maledominated bakery. The rites of passage the female apprentice described in the quotation could be interpreted as a masculine attempt to eliminate the gender problem altogether. Only if the female apprentice can work as a man, will she be accepted as a worker in the bakery. From this example, the gender differentiation is a deviation of a male-dominated culture.

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Gender and Physical Strength Traditionally, bakeries have been male-dominated workplaces for centuries and arranged, quite literally, according to the male body. The physical arrangement and organisation of the bakery makes gender a noticeable element of everyday practice. In this context, female apprentices stand out as physically weak and in need of help. One of the central topics in addressing issues of what it is like to be a female apprentice in a male-dominated workplace is the vital need for sufficient physical strength. In this way, physical strength can be considered as a means of making the female apprentices perceive themselves as second-rate labour. In the bakeries, physical strength is always measured in relation to the body of a male worker. It is apparent from the interviews that the female apprentices learn to perceive themselves as people who lack physical strength, and a deficient image of the female baker apprentice is dominant in the bakeries. The female apprentices are unaware that the social and functional spaces of the bakeries are historically constructed to suit the greater physical strength of a man. The size of sheets, trolleys, the amount of dough in the mixer and so on are constructed in such a way that a man will be able to lift and work with the products. As one female apprentice puts it: We have to admit there are things in the bakery, which we cannot handle, for example, some of the heavy lifting and stuff like that” (Female apprentice, group interview) In the gendered social space of the bakeries, there is a categorisation of women as weak and lacking physical strength. This gives rise to a collective narrative of gender as disclosing a specific gendered differentiation: Women are weak, men are not, and having women in the bakery means more work for the rest of us (male) workers. Even though nobody directly states the gendered narrative as clearly as above, this narrative indirectly manifests itself in most of the interview material concerning gender. Even though the gendered narrative originates from the confrontation between the historical tradition of the bakeries and the ‘invading’ women, it seems to have the power to regulate how the apprentices see themselves. The gendered narrative of women as weak (and the physical strength of men) becomes the shared and dominant understanding of gender at the workplace, and is implicitly and uncritically reflected in most of the interviews by both female and male apprentices. The gendered narrative of male and female workers is a semantic tool that, in various ways, regulates the on-going activities in the bakeries, as described further below. It makes women stand out as deficient, and in this sense, the gendered discourse reinforces restrictive learning strategies, also discussed later. This deficient perception of women is also found in other studies of vocational education (Gaskell and McLarsen 1991; Hughes-Bond 1998).

Gender and Family Life It is important to emphasize that the gendered narrative regulates and organises social space in the bakeries, and is primarily a matter of regulating social order at the

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workplace. As the statistics show at the beginning of this paper, there is consistency and regularity in the distribution of gender in different workplaces. In other words, the gendered narrative does not directly exclude women from the workplace, yet indirectly it does. In the interviews, the most significant reasons for woman to be excluded from working in the bakeries has to do with combining working life and future family life. Being concerned with maintaining a (future) family life indirectly influences female apprentices through the gendered narrative. It adds to the gendered narrative in the sense that woman are physically weak (e.g. in contrast to men) and they tend to get pregnant and take maternal leave, therefore giving the rest of us (i.e. male workers) much more work. In other words, the female apprentices’ commitment to a future family life adds ‘unreliability’ to the gendered discourse about female apprentices. This becomes apparent when the bakeries decide whom to accept as future apprentices and journeymen. Indeed, the relationship to family and any future family plans was a consistent theme in most of the interviews with the female apprentices, with respect to their perceptions of whether or not they have a future within the baking trade. Significantly, this did not emerge as a theme in any of the interviews with male apprentices. It is apparent that being a baker makes these issues more critical than in other trades or jobs, since most bakers start at 3 am, which makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to find day care for their children. More and more women have been training as bakers over the last few years, but only a few stay in the trade, because it is difficult to combine being a baker with having children and not all women can handle the hard work” (Female apprentice, group interview). It is also of matter of not having anybody to look after your children at three o’clock in the morning” (Female apprentice, group interview). In the above quotations, the female apprentices explain that their greatest concern regarding future career possibilities within the trade has to do with combining family and work life. The women see themselves as repeating a traditional gender pattern, in which it is the female partner in a relationship, who takes care of the children, and it is possibly also the woman who has to give up her work life and devote herself to the family. In most of the interviews with female apprentices, issues of combining family life and work life played the most significant role in considering whether they really had a viable future in the baking trade.

Gender, Economy and Selection When addressing workplace learning and gender, it is also necessary to include an economic dimension. The gendered narrative is closely related to a functionaleconomic discourse. As mentioned earlier, over the last few years, being a baker apprentice has, in general, not been attractive for the majority of young people. Consequently, there has been a shortage of applicants, which has forced the bakeries to accept more female apprentices. When the female apprentices perceive themselves

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from the perspective of the functional-economic discourse, they regard themselves as deficient individuals, lacking strength and as second-rate workers in comparison to male apprentices. One female apprentice describes this: I am the only woman in our bakery, and as my master says: ‘well, I have to pay you the same salary’ (male and female apprentices/KN), and this is truly the way it is, so we have to be able do the same kind of work assignments as the others (male apprentices/KN), so one has to make a special effort, and in a way I think this is fair enough” (Female apprentice, group interview). Seen from the functional-economic perspective, the female apprentice concurs with the general discourse that the masters can, quite legitimately, ask the same of the female apprentices as they can of the male apprentices. Both male and female apprentices seem to neglect the notion of physiological gender differences and limitations, when it comes to the demands they encounter at the workplace, and the fact that women and men have different preconditions physically and historically for taking part in bakery work. The gendered narrative plays a crucial role when the bakeries and masters select future apprentices. It is in these situations that the narrative becomes conspicuous and is used as an argument for rejecting women as future apprentices and journeymen. Once again, the gendered narrative helps to organise and reproduce the workplace as a gendered space, and the gendered narrative becomes selfreinforcing. In this study, the evidence suggest the female apprentices are considered by masters and some journeymen, and even by themselves, as second-rate labour within a typical and traditionally male-dominated trade. In the interviews, all female apprentices told the same story of how they were rejected as apprentices in various bakeries, due to their lack of physical strength, and how the masters feared they would become pregnant and have to take maternity leave: However, I feel that in the other places I have been, I have been looked down on because I am a woman. I have been rejected and told that I wasn’t strong enough or that I might get pregnant” (Female apprentice, group interview). The reason why the bakeries accept women is clearly not because of a desire to fight for equal rights, but due to lack of skilled bakers. One of the female apprentices says: S: They have to take in women if they can’t get male apprentices I: Is that how it is? S: If my master could have employed a male apprentice he would definitely have done so. I: But he couldn’t S: No, so he had to take me, but regretted it ever since (laughing). He will never have women in the bakery again, so he says-no more women in the bakery!” (Female apprentice, group interview). Hence, the standing of these women as workers is of ‘last resort’ employees, which reinforces their marginal standing in the workplace practice.

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Gender and Learning Strategies In the previous section, the historical and economic circumstances have been proposed as reinforcing an essentialistic gendered discourse in the bakeries, whereby women are perceived as being weak and unreliable, and men as strong. To the female apprentices, the gendered discourse evolves into various learning strategies. A large portion of the female apprentices have generated restrictive learning strategies (i.e. five female apprentices of seven interviewed). A smaller group showed tendencies towards developing expansive learning strategies (i.e. two female apprentices of seven interviewed). The most conspicuous differences between the two groups relate to age, prior experiences and choosing to become bakers. The female apprentices, who developed expansive learning strategies were older, had more experience from other jobs and had positively chosen to become bakers. However, the number of informants in this qualitative project was not high enough to draw wider conclusions about the differences between the two groups. As mentioned in the theoretical section, restrictive learning strategies are seen as learning processes, whereby the individual identifies with the gendered discourse and does not generate new action potential in relation to the life they would like to live. As explained below, one way in which the restrictive learning strategies of the female apprentices disclosed themselves was the manner in which the female apprentices defined themselves as marginal. The dominating gendered discourse was accepted as the way things were, and the female apprentices could only withdraw from the shared social space at the workplace by isolating themselves. Another way the restricted learning strategies revealed themselves was through reproducing the gendered division of work at the workplace-without questioning this division. Finally, there are tendencies towards expansive learning processes in the bakeries, when female apprentices tried to question and redesign the dominant gendered discourse at the workplace.

Restricted Learning: Learning to be Marginal Most of the female apprentices in male-dominated workplaces have had to learn how to negotiate the gendered discourse. As mentioned above, they learn that they are deficient in relation to a male apprentice, a situation that creates a marginal position in the bakeries, making the female apprentices exclude themselves. This occurs in two respects: firstly, in relation to work processes and, secondly, in relation to social discourse at the workplace. Marginalization in the Work Process In the social space of the bakeries, the gendered narrative becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The social arrangements of the bakeries render the female apprentices conspicuously lacking in physical strength, and consequently, they do not have or are given opportunities to learn all aspects of the trade. In this sense, the female apprentices not only lack physical strength, they also stand out as being less skilled than the male apprentices, because of the denial of experience. Aspects of everyday

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life in the bakery are allegedly “too hard for the female apprentices to handle”, which results in exclusion from learning all aspects of work in the bakery. One of the female apprentices describes this: I have to say that I try most things, except working with the ovens, because admittedly, when I unload the ovens and take out the last sheet, I nearly collapse and drop the stuff, because it is so heavy. But it might be that I am not doing it enough, so I am not strong enough yet. I have nothing against doing it, but when I come home, I am totally knackered” (Female apprentice, group interview). However, working with hot ovens is a crucial learning area for apprentices in most bakeries (for more detail, see Nielsen 2005). It is the location at which the apprentice is able to gain an overview of the entire production process, and it is a significant and responsible position in the production line. As this female apprentice mentions, she is unable to conduct some activities, because of her physical strength. However, it is noteworthy that she blames herself for not being strong enough to handle the physical demands of the workplace. In the interviews, the female apprentices themselves unconditionally accept the gender narrative (i.e. weak women/strong men) without taking a second look at the social space that reinforces such prejudices. As mentioned above, there is a general tendency on the part of the female apprentices to perceive and evaluate themselves uncritically from the perspective of the shared understanding, thereby learning to accept the deficient view of women reflected in this understanding. Marginalization and the Social Discourse at the Workplace The general masculine discourse constitutes yet another aspect of the workplace in which female apprentices learn to marginalize themselves. The problem is not that the gendered discourses are sexist in content. The female apprentices are more concerned that they are excluded from discourses at the workplace. One female apprentice describes this as follows: And then they (male apprentices) talk about girls. They have to find a girlfriend. And they talk about all the soap operas they watch–one has to have something to do, otherwise it becomes rather tedious, if one does not have something to talk about” (Female apprentice, group interview). Another female apprentice also illustrates how the discourse is of such a nature that the female apprentices do not contribute to it and they learn resignation instead: One learns to close one’s ears. But the way the men talk is really rough and unpleasant. The tone is aggressive and can be nasty. As a result, when you have been there a while, you get into a kind of pattern of not speaking much” (Female apprentice, group interview). Here, the female apprentice stresses that women exclude themselves from workplace discussions, as they find it hard to participate in an all male-oriented discourse. Tanggaard (2006) identifies this gendered discourse as one of the main reasons women assume a passive and isolated role in workplaces. Yet, it should be noted that the males may also find the rough and aggressive work environment challenging, as many of the interviewed male apprentices say that it is a great

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advantage to have more female apprentices, because it makes the tone and nature of discussions less rough at the workplace.

Restricted Learning: Full Participation as Reproducing Gender Most of the female apprentices interviewed maintain themselves in a marginal position. However, one group of female apprentices changed their position, thus becoming a part of the social practice by moulding and adapting themselves in accordance with the social order of the gendered space in the bakeries. In accordance with the gendered social space, they themselves became full participants in this social space through accepted the essentialistic gendered discourse about learning. They divided and defined certain work assignments as typically male and others as typically female. As mentioned, in the bakeries, there is a clear tendency for female apprentices to be excluded from work assignments which exceed their physical strength, due to the bakery being historically constructed for the male body. The female body is characterised as ‘weak’. However, one of the general strategies of the female apprentices in the bakery is to define some work assignments as especially female. One apprentice describes how female journeymen create the more elaborate cakes: We have two female journeymen and they are fast, the men can’t keep up with them. They are really fast with their fingers and they do all the confectionery work (Female apprentice). This is an example of how a female apprentice uses female journeymen as role models, thus learning to become a full participant in a gendered social practice. These female apprentices redefine themselves in accordance with a gendered discourse, in which they reverse what women and men traditionally do best. The gendered narrative is, in this case, maintained and expanded by arguing that woman have better finger skills than men and are, in certain areas of the social practice, better workers than the men. This reinforces a gendered stereotyping based on body. The women mentioned in the illustrative quote are able to do something that the men cannot. In the interview, a master and journeymen often mentioned how this redefinition of male and female apprentices’ skills occurs at the workplace. It was emphasised that females are more meticulous about how the products look and have a better understanding of the finished products, which male apprentices and journeymen lack, again reinforcing the essentialist discourse, although in way that provides a space for women bakers. It follows that different kinds of restrictive learning strategies were identified: (1) the female apprentices withdraw from the social space at the workplace or (2) became full participants in a gendered social space. In the section below, notions of expansive learning strategies are discussed.

Expansive Learning: Destabilizing the Gendered Discourse? In the empirical investigation, aspects of expansive learning processes are related to gender and discourse. As mentioned earlier, expansive learning can be understood as

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processes in which learners become motivated to acquire real structures of meaning, based on their problems thereby developing new action potential (Holzkamp 1983). A smaller group of female apprentices developed new ways of working as bakers and through their examples, they reveal that the association between gender and personal characteristics is contingent. Several of the female apprentices envisioned themselves as bakers in the future and most had ambitions of using their baking skills to work as bakers in new ways. Some of them saw themselves in the future as working in a café or as masters in modern bakeries. To a certain degree, they embodied Holzkamp’s (1983) point about expansive learning, in that they developed new action potential for themselves as women in the bakeries. However, it is important to underline that none of the female apprentices openly challenged the gendered narrative at the workplace. Change and transformation does take place, but slowly and incrementally. It is mainly through the new trajectories of participation (e.g. working in cafés as a baker or becoming a master) that the female apprentices develop new ways of participating in traditional male-dominated workplace practices, and subsequently change the gendered discourse of what it means to be a baker. As previewed, there are a number of personal characteristics of the female apprentices who develop expansive learning strategies. However, it is important to pay attention to the changed material conditions that make these strategies possible and not only to highlight expansive learning as individual achievement. One of the main changes is the new technology in bakeries, which gives the female apprentices new opportunities. One of the female apprentices describes how such technology transforms the constraints of working hours. She says: They (the craft-orientated bakeries—KN) develop all the time. They now bake till late afternoon. They used to stop baking in the morning, and they have started using special ovens, which is the same as the bake-off system, something we have started to work with in our bakery, as well (Female apprentice). Here, the female apprentice describes how new ovens and the costumers’ constant demand for freshly baked bread provides her with new opportunities. The new special ovens are introduced as a response to the challenge of the ‘bake off’ bread offered by gas stations and kiosks. However, they also present the female apprentices with new possibilities for merging (future) family life with life as a baker. Currently, more advanced technology enters the bakeries and usually makes it easier to work as a baker, and these changes also make it more feasible to be a female apprentice in a bakery. It becomes possible to synchronize work life with family life and also reduces the heavy lifting in the bakeries. This may change the gendered narratives of what it means to be a baker. In some incidents, the female apprentices question the gendered discourse, as well as basic assumptions in the gendered division at the workplace. They learn to take a humorous and ironic stand on the gendered narrative, by mastering the jargon at the workplace and talking back to the male apprentices. Tanggaard (2006) notes how female apprentices develop a kind of counter-sexism. One could conclude that female apprentices intuitively sense that the gendered narrative causes certain issues to stand out as problematic. One way of achieving this is to learn to ‘talk back’ to the

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male apprentices and playfully allow the notion of gender to be less defined. When discussing gender in the interview, one female apprentice jokingly states: S: I believe there is not enough sexual harassment at our place I: Not enough? S: I mean there are other things which interest the men, for example, women, soccer and stuff like that. But I don’t think we are being harassed because we are women, neither sexually or anything else, but it depends on how one is as a human being. I think the rough tone is funny, I just say something to their faces. I haven’t heard of anyone who thinks it is difficult to handle the rough tone. They say that women are generally slower, but that is easy for them to say, because they are all men. (Female apprentices, group interview). In taking this approach, the female apprentice tries to transcend the dichotomy between male and female in the gendered narrative, by suggesting that basically, all participants are human beings. Furthermore, she treats the rugged male conversation as something of a joke, and talks back to the other (male) participants. Paradoxically, it is by turning a sexist discourse around, that the female apprentices start challenging issues of gender. Several examples can be found in the interviews where female apprentices themselves introduce a joking and sexist discourse. None of these issues arose in any of the interviews with the male apprentices or in the mixed group of female and male apprentices. One interpretation of using a sexist discourse is seen as a way of trying to deconstruct and destabilize the gender narrative in the bakeries. When introducing a sexist discourse, the female apprentices refuse to be objects of the discourse; rather they become active contributors to the gendered narrative, by trying to redesign the gendered discourse. Furthermore, it could be argued that, by using the sexist discourse jokingly, the female apprentices also try to situate the male apprentices in a gender discourse, rather than accept the distinction between primary and secondary workers. Another interpretation of the phenomenon could be that the female apprentices have adopted the sexist discourse from their male apprentices. However, it can also be argued that this counter-sexist example opens up new interpretations of the gendered discourse in the bakeries.

Discussion As advanced above, it is the arrangement of the cultural historical setting and gendered narratives that make female apprentices conspicuous as less qualified and less knowledgeable participants in practice. By concentrating on individuals and their skills in the bakeries, it is possible to reify knowledge as property belonging to the person. In a situated perspective, knowledge and skills are distributed in a social practice, and, as argued above, issues of skill seem closely related to those of gender, and again, gender functions as a regulatory historical and social practice in everyday life. Introducing gender to a situated perspective gives us the opportunity to discuss some of the central presumptions about learning in the situated framework. According to Lave and Wenger (1991), the main conflict in a

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community of practice is primarily between newcomers and experienced learners. However, one could question whether this is the only potential conflict. Seeing communities of practices as historically constructed, issues of gender seem to be crucial. As proposed here, a social practice is gendered with respect to the physical arrangements and form of on-going interaction at the workplace. It would be useful to discuss whether participants in communities of practice are in a position in which there is enough transparency to question some of the fundamental structures in these communities of practices. When discussing issues of learning, one could also argue for the need to include this aspect as an important dimension of how to approach learning. The distinction between restrictive and expansive learning has been introduced and discussed in relation about gender and learning. Expansive learning was seen as deconstructing an essentialistic gendered narrative, by making the relationship between gender and work performance contingent. The tradition of the trade and the physical arrangements makes an essentialistic narrative dominant, thus reinforcing restrictive learning strategies. By introducing this perspective on learning and gender, the aim of this paper was to understand how the deep-rooted and consistent patterns of gender division in the Danish vocational system are maintained. Even though gender equality is high on the agenda in most Western countries, we need to be aware of the interplay between the physical arrangements, gendered narratives and the kind of learning strategies developed in various social practices at the workplace. In a Danish context, most research on gender and learning has focused on the verbal interaction in formal educational settings and concentrated mostly on women in academia (see, for example, Søndergaard 1996). In many respects, this approach to gender and learning has set the research agenda in the area, but the approach neglects the fact that physical arrangements play a crucial role in the (re) presentation of gender in non-academic settings. The key issue is how expansive learning comes about when social practice in situated practices is dominated by gendered narratives. As indicated in the interview project described above, potential for expansive learning can be found in some of the conflictory aspects of the community of practice. On the one hand, the bakeries need female apprentices, due to a shortage of apprentices altogether. On the other hand, female apprentices encounter great difficulties in coping with the arrangements of physical space, the discourses at the workplace and combining a future family life with work as journeyman in bakeries. This potential conflict, which is embedded in the social practice of baking, could enhance critical awareness, which in turn could lead to expansive learning. This could then stimulate further modification of notions of learning in a situated perspective, in which conflictory aspects are regarded dynamic and transformatory.

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