EUA Council for Doctoral Education

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Why mainstreaming gender in research content is necessary

01 April 2025 | Eva Cerezo, University of Zaragoza

The inclusion of a gender perspective in research projects not only improves the quality and relevance of their results, but also contributes to the construction of a fairer and more equitable society.

Integrating sex and gender analysis into the design of research, where relevant, can lead to discovery and improved research methodology. Moreover, it is a crucial step towards more inclusive, fair and effective research. Historically, many areas of science and research have been dominated by an androcentric view, that is, focused on the male experience as the norm.

However, science, being based on principles of objectivity and evidence, must reflect all human realities: incorporating a gender perspective in research not only broadens the scope of studies, but also improves their quality and relevance. Indeed, in many fields, such as medicine, education, social sciences and technology, gender gaps can significantly affect outcomes. For example, in biomedical research, historically little distinction has been made between how treatments affect men and women, which can result in inappropriate or ineffective diagnoses and treatments for women. And in artificial intelligence or robotics, gender mainstreaming is necessary to avoid biases and stereotypes that perpetuate discrimination or exclusion.

That said, a gender perspective is not the same as simply counting women and men or highlighting the differences between them. Rather, it is essential to understanding how gender relations work in different contexts and in intersection with other variables, such as age, income, ethnicity or citizenship status.

Gender mainstreaming in Horizon Europe

Gender mainstreaming in research is a key element in Horizon Europe, the European Union's main research and innovation programme for the period 2021-2027. This programme recognises that gender equality is a cross-cutting issue that must be integrated into all phases of research, from project design to implementation and evaluation.

In particular, the programme states that gender equality should be actively considered not only in the composition of research teams, but also in the content of proposals: research projects are required to take into account gender differences and how these may influence the results. This includes aspects such as the design of experiments, sample selection, data analysis approaches and interpretation of results.

The gender approach in Horizon Europe applies to a variety of research areas, and seeks to incorporate gender analysis in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, as well as in technology, engineering and innovation. In fact, it is mandatory for beneficiaries to explain how the gender dimension is integrated into the content of their proposal, unless the topic in question explicitly states that it is exempt from this requirement. Not only that, it is also a criterion of excellence that can influence the allocation of funding.

Beyond gender: intersectionality

Intersectionality studies how identity factors, such as gender, race, sexuality, class and disability, among others, interact with each other. Rather than considering these factors in isolation, intersectionality argues that these dimensions should be analysed together. Combining them not only enriches research, but can offer more accurate and tailored solutions to the diversity of social realities, resulting in more inclusive and equitable solutions and practices.

The big challenge: raising awareness and training researchers

One of the greatest challenges is to familiarise researchers in all areas with the importance of the gender dimension or with the methodologies needed to incorporate this approach effectively. It is therefore necessary to make courses and seminars on this subject available to researchers.

With this objective in mind, at the Doctoral School of the University of Zaragoza, a transversal course entitled ‘Gender mainstreaming in quality research’ has been offered for the last two years. The course is aimed to doctoral candidates from all doctoral programmes and is open to supervisors. It lasts 11 hours and is organised as a series of common seminars and a final workshop in which participants are grouped according to their areas of knowledge (Science and Engineering, Social and Legal Sciences, Health Sciences, Arts and Humanities). The objectives of the course are:

- To develop a critical view of gender biases and stereotypes in science and technology

- To understand the importance of including the gender dimension in the research cycle and its impact on the quality and excellence of research

- To be able to integrate a gender perspective into projects and other research activities, based on the recommendations of the Horizon Europe programmes, in order to improve the quality of projects and increase the chances of success in competitive calls for projects.

In our experience, the key to the success of this type of course is to ensure that doctoral candidates, and their supervisors, see this type of training as a tool to improve the quality of their research and their chances of obtaining funding for it.

Note: This article is based on Eva Cerezo’s contribution to the 2025 EUA-CDE Thematic Workshop, on the theme of ‘Establishing and advancing equity, diversity and inclusion in doctoral education’.