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PurposeThe aim of this paper is to describe senior lecturers' experiences of and reflections on the influence of gender on their work and career possibilities.Design/methodology/approachEight informants, four female and four male university teachers, representing different schools at a Swedish university college were interviewed. A qualitative content method was used for analysis.FindingsThe findings revealed that the lecturers at the university college had an experience of academic gender neutrality. The findings also pointed to experiences of gendered practice that had been internalized and made normal. It also revealed that the lecturers did not consider or reflect on the gap between experiences of and reflections on gender neutrality and gendered practice.Research limitations/implicationsEven if the number of informants is small, the findings have something important to tell about the gap between gender‐neutral academia and practice in academia.Originality/valueThe findings imply that although the Swedish model of equality work has been successful in many ways, a confrontation on the micro‐political level is required to achieve a gender equality workplace environment and to increase women's career possibilities.

Touch has been a part of the healing process in many civilisations and cultures throughout the centuries. Nurses frequently use touch to provide comfort and reach their patients. The aim of this study was to illuminate the meaning of receiving tactile touch when being cared for in an intensive care unit. Tactile touch is a complementary method including the use of effleurage, which means soft stroking movements along the body. The context used to illuminate the meaning of receiving tactile touch was two general intensive care units (ICUs). Six patients, who have been cared for in the two ICUs, participated in the study. A phenomenological–hermeneutical method based on the philosophy of Ricoeur and developed for nursing research by Lindseth and Norberg [Lindseth A, Norberg A. A phenomenological hermeneutical method for researching lived experience. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 2004;18:145–53] was chosen for the analysis. Data consisted of narratives, which were analysed in three recurring phases: naïve understanding, structural analyses and comprehensive understanding. Two main themes were found: being connected to oneself and being unable to gain and maintain pleasure. The comprehensive understanding of receiving tactile touch during intensive care seems to be an expression of enjoying tactile touch and gaining hope for the future. This study reveals that it is possible to experience moments of pleasure in the midst of being a severely ill patient at an ICU and, through this experience also gain hope.