The Gender+ in Research Collective works to promote a community in which gender and other intersections of identity, including race, class, sexuality, ability and others, are considered when conducting research. Our project focuses on capacity building and providing the tools researchers need to utilize a gender+ lens.
Intersectional gender analysis refers to the mainstreaming of gender, and other identity intersections, throughout the research process. This means acknowledging the impact gendered intersections have on individuals’ realities as they move through the world. Research which seeks to address these different lived experiences, and incorporate critical, intersectional analysis of data, methodologies, reporting and distribution, ensures a higher level of scientific quality.
When research ignores the relevance of intersectionality, findings have the potential to be incomplete or inaccurate in the conclusions that are drawn. The primary objective of gender+ analysis is to work towards a more thorough understanding of a diverse population’s experiences.
Origin Story
The Gender+ in Research Collective is based out of the UBC Office for Regional and International Community Engagement (UBC ORICE). The collective emerged from conversations and meet-ups within the Women Deliver 2019 mobilizations, and builds on networks and connections from that initiative. The Collective was formed with leadership from Dr. Helina Jolly (Research Associate at Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Solutions, UBC) and Tamara Baldwin (Director, ORICE). Students and faculty from all disciplines are welcome.
Our Guiding Questions
Our Principles
- Fostering dialogue towards a culture that (re)frames research questions through a gender+ lens.
- Creating an environment and network to support researchers in our community to bring gender+ into their research from the beginning (from question formulation to knowledge dissemination); “gendering” research throughout.
- Developing a framework and resources to support gender+ lensing.
- Promoting the integration of intersectionality as an analytical framework into research, highlighting how gender is entangled with race, class, Indigeneity, ability, nationality and other social-economic-political relations.
What is gender+?
María Bustelo describes gender+ as: “[a term] used to include an intersectionality perspective, that is, a recognition that gender is intersected by other inequalities, such as ethnicity, class, age, disability, and sexual orientation.” (Bustelo, 2016)
We expand on this understanding to ask intersectional, [1] gender-sensitive research process questions such as:
- Are research questions formulated to be gender+-sensitive?
- Are methodologies sensitive to gender+ factors?
- Is data collection sensitive to the gender+ identities of participants?
- Are gender+ factors considered while analyzing data?
- How can gender+ factors be considered in the ways data is reported and distributed?
[1] We acknowledge, in particular, the contributions of Black Feminists such as the Combahee River Collective, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and Patricia Hill Collins towards a theory of intersectionality as an analytical tool.