Internship at The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud

What tasks did you perform during your internship?

– I primarily worked in the Supervision Department at The Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud (LDO). They work with policy advocacy and supervision, which means they work with the authorities in addition to promoting equality in other areas. I have worked a lot with masculinity issues, particularly men and mental health, and learned a lot about the various gendered barriers men face in accessing public health services as men. Much of my time at LDO has been devoted to working on the "Mann om bord" project. It is a collaboration model developed in Trondheim to better support young men who struggle with exclusion, isolation, substance abuse, and loneliness. LDO wanted to spread this model to more municipalities and wanted me to contribute specifically to this work. For me, this initially involved familiarizing myself with the model and meeting with the initiators in Trondheim. Then I was tasked with creating an information document about the model, which they now distribute to various municipalities.

I have also participated in many interesting meetings within LDO and other events that I would not have had access to if I had not been an intern. Particularly memorable was the launch of The Men’s Equality Commission report (NOU 2024:8) to the Government and participation in various debates afterwards. I was also tasked with taking some notes for the Ombudsman when he participated in discussions about The Men’s Equality Commission (Mannsutvalget).

How did you use skills you have acquired from your education at the Faculty of Humanities?

– My knowledge from the faculty was useful because I already had a lot of knowledge about discrimination and marginalization of groups of people. In particular, my knowledge from gender studies was useful for understanding the complex debates in the field of equality, in addition to being able to ask critical questions. As part of my studies, I also took the course "Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law" at the Faculty of Law, which was especially useful for working at LDO.

What do you think is or was the greatest benefit from your internship?

– From an academic perspective, I have learned a lot about working with masculinity issues, how to phrase things to ensure that a focus on men does not come at the expense of women's struggle for equality, and the many equality issues facing men as gendered individuals. I have also gained insight into many current debates in the field of equality and seen how LDO responds to news stories, debates, and events in Norwegian society. It has been very motivating to see that it is possible to get jobs where you can work with gender and equality on a daily basis. Additionally, I have learned a lot about working in the public sector, which will be useful when I start applying for jobs later on.

Anything else you would like to add?

– Start the application process early! I would recommend not only applying for advertised internship positions but also sending many emails with open applications! If you get an internship, be open to participating in as much as possible and take the initiative yourself. It may feel scary at first, but usually people are very happy that you show engagement and want to be involved. It is also important to remember that it is normal for interns to not have a lot of work and that there can be a lot of downtime.

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