Dilemmas in the Danish Approach to Gender Quotas and Gender Equality

The paper addresses the dilemmas, contradictions and paradoxes in the Danish approach to gender quotas and gender equality. Gender theory has presented diverse arguments for gender quota: justice, resources and women’s interests. Gender quota can be understood as a Means to achieve gender parity and gender justice in all arenas of society political and economic life. The belief in gender theory and research has been that gender quota would and should be ameans to achieve equal rights and gender equality.1 Recently a new discourse and rhetoric of profitability of gender equality within a range of institutions from business to higher education has become prominent in many arenas. One example is the Report on gender equality between men and women in the EU, which argues that gender quotas are not only beneficial for women’s rights but also for industry, for society, and for men.