Reindeer husbandry is more than herding: Contemporary roles of women in reindeer husbandry in Finland

Women's role in reindeer husbandry has received little attention and women have been largely excluded from the public image and management of the livelihood in Finland. We adopted a mixed-methods approach to examine the role of women in reindeer husbandry, focusing on the practices and agency of female herders from the 1980s to the present. Although women have historically been underrepresented in official roles and decision-making related to reindeer husbandry, this is changing. Changes in society and attitudes, herding traditions as well as increased gender equality and a higher educational level and technological development, among others, have affected the practices and agency of women in reindeer husbandry. In addition, challenges related to rapid land-use expansion and intensification as well as climate change require extra work from both men and women. Our study suggests that increased diversification in reindeer husbandry has created new opportunities and roles for women. In addition to physical work, such as gathering herds and round-ups, the contemporary tasks of women include office work, work in supplementary livelihoods and housekeeping round the year. In the 2020s, the proportion of women in reindeer husbandry, both as practitioners and in management roles, is still low. However, along with the changing role of women, the share of female reindeer owners and the number of reindeer they own is gradually increasing, as is the share of female trustees and herding district employees. A new trend of young and educated women entering the livelihood and having more active and diverse roles than earlier is clearly emerging.