Integrating the gender dimension in the content of research and innovation

H2020 was the first EU Framework Programme calling “to explore whether and how the gender dimension is relevant to your research” and to include the results of such exploration in the proposal. Horizon Europe goes even further by setting the appropriate consideration of the gender dimension in research and innovation content as an excellence criterion in Research and Innovation Actions and Innovation Actions.

What does integrating gender analysis into innovation entail?

The integration of sex and gender analysis ranges from more strategic issues such as rethinking research priorities and outcomes to the very concrete ones like systematically including gender as part of the research design without gender necessarily being the main focus of analysis, i.e. in the formulation of research questions or during the methodological design.

The EU in Gendered Innovations 2: How inclusive analysis contributes to research and innovation (European Commission, 2020); defines gender as "the socio-cultural norms, identities, ties and relationships that structure societies and organisations and shape behaviours, products, technologies, environments and knowledge" while sex refers to "biological characteristics".
Sex and gender factors should be at least taken into account in the research design and justification should be provided when ruled out. Sex and gender should be careful considered when working with human beings, animals, cells and tissues and gender should be also taken into account when thinking about transfer innovations to the market. Ideally, the sex and gender analysis should help ensuring excellence and quality in outcomes and enhancing sustainability, making research and innovation more responsive to social needs and identifying new ideas and opportunities, fostering innovation and adding value to research proposals and avoid pitfalls and gender biased research.

Where should I start?

Should sex and gender be taken into account, methodological design and data interpretation are critical points to consider. The European Commission offers practical tools and handbooks with practical examples to ease the integration of sex, gender and other intersectional factors in the research design.

References

• http://genderedinnovations.stanford.edu/index.html
• https://ec.europa.eu/info/research-and-innovation/strategy/strategy-2020-2024/democracy-and-rights/gender-equality-research-and-innovation_en#gender-equality-in-the-european-research-area-era
• https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/gendered-innovations-2-2020-nov-24_es
• https://kjonnsforskning.no/sites/default/files/what_is_the_gender_dimension_roggkorsvik_kilden_genderresearch.no_.pdf
• https://op.europa.eu/es/publication-detail/-/publication/c17a4eba-49ab-40f1-bb7b-bb6faaf8dec8
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcNstNR14pQ