Consider gender issues to reduce inequalities

Why take the Gender Perspective into account? 

Taking gender into account is important in a range of contexts. For example, in research and policy contexts considering gender allows for gender related issues that can impact equality to become visible. This is key to overcoming the issue of gender-blind research and policy. Considering gender is particularly important also in some social and economic contexts. One area would be areas of work and life where gender stereotypes and more traditional gender roles are stronger. For example, farming can be a sector where traditional gender roles persist and there is a gender imbalance in the profession with more male than female farmers.   

What do the Gender Perspective Concept Notes provide?  

• They assess a number of specific and diverse domains where gender issues are particularly important to consider, from Gender and Digital (Concept Note No.10) to Gender and Extension Advisory (Concept Note No.14).  

• Attention is also given to unpacking generally used terms and their deeper meanings (e.g. Concept Note No.6 on Gender Equality), as well as lesser used and more academic terms and debate that tease out gender issues in different ways (e.g. Concept Note No.15 on Gender Intersectionality).  

Explore the Concept Notes to learn more:  

• Read FLIARA’s Concept Note No.5 on Gender and Social Constructs to explore more deeply the meaning of ‘gender’, such as how it can be understood as something that is constructed in society and culture and how anything can be ‘gendered’, from gendered spaces to gender norms.  

• Concept Note No.6 focuses on the issue of Gender Equality. This is a term we hear often, but this concept notes unpacks its meaning showing how it can be studied and measured in different ways. 

• Gender and The Matilda Effect is explored in Concept Note No.7 that details the historically inspired concept of the Matilda effect. It originated in the 1870s where a US women’s rights activist and sociologist Matilda J. Gage highlighted how female scientists were often invisible or forgotten. There are some practical principles for tackling this issue also outlined in this concept note. 

• Concept Note No.8 explores the interface between Gender and Communication. This cross-cutting topic highlights a range of issues from gendered language to media representations of gender.   

• Find a discussion on Gender and Social Networks in Concept Note No.9 that explores how social networks enable information and resource exchange and the importance of taking account of how women are or are not engaged in networks. 

• Discover the concept of anti-feminism in Concept Note No.10 Gender and Antifeminism. This is a backlash in response to the real or imagined threat that feminists and emancipated women are supposed to represent for the legitimacy and stability of patriarchy.  

• Find a reflection on Gender Support and Training in Concept Note No.11. This concept notes discusses how women remain underrepresented as entrepreneurs and how efforts to promote and train them must continue.  

• Concept Note No.12 explores Gender and Digital discussing the importance of digital and skills to capitalise on it to women-led entrepreneurship.  

• Read about the issue of Gender Conflict and Work Life in Concept Note No.13. The discussion explores how current policies (e.g. parental leave or flexible work hours) can attempt to address work-life conflict, but also there is a need to address underlying issues such as the wage gap, insufficient or affordable childcare and the glass ceiling. 

• Find a reflection on in Concept Note No.14 Gender and Extension Advisory. Opportunities and constraints in farming can be gender specific making it important that agricultural extension programmes and services are designed to meet the needs and priorities of both women and men farmers.  

• Discover more about the concept of intersectionality in Concept Note No.15 on Gender Intersectionality. This idea advocates bringing intersecting aspects of our identities (e.g. race, sexuality, religion, disability) together with analysis of gender issues to better understand more specific dynamics of power, discrimination and privilege in our world.  

Read the full concept notes in the FLIARA Conceptual Framework report, see pages 68-88.