Harriet Holter (11 April 1922 – 18 December 1997) was a Norwegian

social psychologist Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the re ...

Career

She graduated with the

cand.oecon. Candidatus oeconomices (male) or Candidata oeconomices (female), often abbreviated cand.oecon. is an academic degree in economics at Education in Denmark, Danish, Háskóli Íslands, Icelandic and Higher education in Norway, Norwegian universities ...

degree in 1946, and was eventually hired as a research fellow at the

Norwegian Institute for Social Research The Norwegian Institute for Social Research ( no, Institutt for samfunnsforskning, ISF) is a private social science research institute based in Oslo, Norway. It was founded in 1950 by Vilhelm Aubert, Arne Næss, Eirik Rinde, and Stein Rokkan. It ...

, which was established in 1950. Despite having a degree in economics, the prospect of making an academic career in this field became unsettling for Holter. In her early career, she researched the

working life Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a co ...

. After analyses of the role of

women in the workforce Since the industrial revolution, participation of women in the workforce outside the home has increased in industrialized nations, with particularly large growth seen in the 20th century. Largely seen as a boon for industrial society, women in ...

, she began concentrating more on

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

in general. As she took the dr.philos. degree in 1970 on the thesis ''Sex Roles and Social Structure'' (which was also selected for the

Norwegian Sociology Canon The Norwegian Sociology Canon ( no, Norsk sosiologisk kanon) is an award presented from 2009 to 2011 to 25 nonfiction texts that are considered to have had the greatest influence on sociology in Norway. The list of works was published in the journal ...

in 2009–2011), Holter became a pioneer in this field in the Nordic countries. She was appointed professor at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...

in 1973. She continued researching gender roles, publishing ''Kvinners liv og arbeid: kjønnsroller og sosial struktur'' in 1974. She later edited the books ''Familien i klassesamfunnet'' (1976), ''Kvinner i fellesskap'' (1982) and ''Patriarchy in a Welfare Society'' (1984). Her own works ''Tvang til seksualitet'' (1986) and ''Sex i arbeid(et) i Norge'' (1992) pertained to the field of

gender and sexuality studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

, and the former became controversial. She retired as a professor in 1992, but continued working as a senior researcher. Among her last publications were the 1996 ''Hun og han. Kjønn i forskning og politikk'', a textbook on gender and politics for which she was co-editor.

Death and legacy

Holter died in December 1997, following long-term illness. A house at the University of Oslo campus,

Blindern Blindern is the main campus of the University of Oslo, located in Nordre Aker in Oslo, Norway. Campus Most of the departments of the University of Oslo are located at Blindern; other, smaller campuses include Sentrum (law), Gaustad (medicine), ...

, has been named after her. In 2008 her son

Øystein Gullvåg Holter Øystein Gullvåg Holter (born 7 February 1952) is a Norwegian sociologist and expert on men's studies. Son of Harriet Holter. He is Professor of men's studies at the University of Oslo, the first to be appointed to such a chair in Norway. He worke ...

became Norway's first professor of

men's studies Men's studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning men, masculinity, gender, culture, politics and sexuality. It academically examines what it means to be a man in contemporary society. Origins Sociologists and ...

, having been appointed at the University of Oslo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holter, Harriet 1922 births 1997 deaths Norwegian psychologists Norwegian women psychologists Social psychologists University of Oslo faculty Norwegian women academics Family sociologists 20th-century psychologists