Understanding the gender dimension of MSCA projects

From Project IPOV RESPECTFULCARE, funded by the Horizon Europe Program of the European Union(HORIZON-MSCA-2022-Staff Exchange), we want to contribute to the understanding of the gender dimension in MSCA projects. This issue constitutes one of the central axes of our project.

The European Commission actively promotes equal opportunities in research teams and encourages gender balance in decision-making processes. This implies that research and project management teams should be composed of a balanced number of women and men, and that their evaluation panels should ensure the participation of experts of both sexes.

However, equality is not limited only to the composition of the teams. It is essential to integrate gender and sex analysis into the research content itself. This is called the gender dimension in research and innovation.

Why is it important to take the gender dimension into account?

Incorporating a gender perspective in research, when relevant, improves the scientific quality and social relevance of the results.
Ignoring gender differences can lead to waste of time and resources, perpetuating errors and biases. This occurs, for example, when health sciences, transportation or welfare policies start from a “gender-blind” model, using the male as the representative norm for the entire adult population.

This bias seriously limits the real understanding of the phenomena being studied.

Broadening the view and integrating the gender dimension is not only an act of social justice: it also contributes to the common good and improves collective well-being.

When preparing a research project, teams are encouraged to think creatively and explore new perspectives.
Daring to investigate aspects traditionally invisible for gender reasons can open up new lines of knowledge and reveal problems that had gone unnoticed.

The gender dimension offers great potential, even in areas that might seem, at first glance, neutral, such as transportation or climate change.

For example:

• For many years, automobiles were tested only with male test dummies in crash tests, ignoring the specific injury risks for women.
• It has been shown that women are more vulnerable than men to the effects of climate change, as they constitute the majority of the world’s poor and are more dependent on natural resources that become scarcer with climate change.

These examples illustrate how both sex (biological characteristics) and gender (sociocultural factors) are important determinants in research.

When addressing the gender dimension, it is necessary to differentiate between sex and gender, but also to understand that their interactions are complex and deeply intertwined.

Recognizing how sex and gender influence culture and society is essential for more effective, more comprehensive, and more socially relevant research.

While it may require additional resources and time, integrating this perspective is a powerful tool for challenging stereotypes, making inequalities visible and better addressing the differentiated needs of women, men and non-binary people.

Is the gender dimension applicable to your research?

We invite you to reflect through some examples:

In Karlskoga, Sweden, it became evident that the planning of street gritting was not gender-neutral: priority was given to cleaning large car lanes, while sidewalks, bike paths and bus stops took a back seat.
However, studies showed that women walk, use public transport and cycle more frequently than men.
By reorganizing the cleaning order to prioritize pedestrians, cyclists and public transport users, the municipality not only improved accessibility for the entire population – including people with strollers, reduced mobility, children – but also managed to reduce the costs associated with accidents and injuries due to falls.

In many regions of the world, women and girls assume the primary responsibility for collecting water for their families.
The lack of nearby access to potable water forces them to dedicate much of their time to this task, seriously limiting their access to education and economic opportunities.
Many development projects that ignored this reality failed in their objectives.
In contrast, those that actively involved women in the design and management of solutions succeeded in improving access to water, increasing girls’ schooling and expanding income-generating opportunities for adult women, thus helping to break the cycle of poverty.

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Obstetric violence, reproductive health and human rights

From IPOV RESPECTFULCARE, we also want to emphasize that understanding the gender dimension in research implies recognizing specific forms of gender-based violence, such as obstetric violence.

The World Health Organization (WHO), in its statement “The prevention and elimination of disrespect and abuse during childbirth care in health facilities”, states that mistreatment during childbirth violates fundamental rights:
the right to respectful care, to life, to health, to bodily integrity and to non-discrimination.

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, in his 2019 report to the General Assembly (“A human rights-based approach to abuse and violence against women in reproductive health services”), defined obstetric violence as a form of gender-based violence that occurs in contexts of structural inequality, discrimination, and patriarchy, stemming from a lack of education, training, and respect for women’s equal rights.

The European Parliament, in its June 24, 2021 resolution on “The situation of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in the EU”, also recognized obstetric violence as a specific manifestation of gender-based violence and reinforced that sexual and reproductive rights are fundamental human rights.

Despite the limitations imposed by Article 168.7 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union – which states that health is a national competence – the Parliament encourages Member States to move towards more homogeneous policies that ensure safety and dignity in reproductive health services.

Obstetric violence can therefore be understood as a violation of human rights involving gender-based violence, institutional violence and attacks on reproductive autonomy and health.

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We invite you to reflect on how sex and gender can influence the results of your own work.

Including the gender dimension should not be seen as a bureaucratic requirement or relegated to the end of the process:
should be present from the initial design and throughout the development of the project.

If you are applying for an MSCA grant or participating in a Horizon Europe project, remember: the gender dimension is assessed under the excellence criterion.

Incorporating it not only improves the scientific quality of your research and your social impact, but can also be a differentiating factor compared to other proposals.

More inclusive research is not just fairer:
is better science.