Introduction: Gender and Race in Research
This module is a broad exploration of topics relating to Gender and Race in research. It will introduce concepts such as Intersectionality, Gender Equity and Anti-Racism, and explore how these concepts are relevant in research and EDI frameworks.
In recognition that these topics can be difficult to discuss, it is necessary to acknowledge that we are not experts here. Rather, we want to offer an introduction to a broad range of relevant topics relating to Gender and Race, The goal is to encourage you to think more deeply about these topics and how they are connected to and reflected in educational and research spheres.
Intersectionality
Kimberlé Crenshaw, a renowned lawyer, civil rights advocate, and leading scholar of Critical Race Theory, coined the term “Intersectionality” in her paper, “Demarginalizing The Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics” (1989).
Intersectionality has become an important concept in understanding systems of oppression across divisions such as gender, race, ability, age, etc. Crenshaw writes, “What do you call being impacted by multiple forces and then abandoned to fend for yourself? Intersectionality seemed to do it for me.”
In this TEDTalk, Crenshaw further explains Intersectionality.
Kimberle Crenshaw, “The urgency of Intersectionality” TED Talk, 7 December 2016 (18:49)
In the following article, Arica Coleman discusses how Intersectionality has not always been included in social justice movements throughout history, highlighting exclusions within feminist movements prior to the inclusion of intersectional frameworks.
Gender Equity
What is gender equity?
The following key definitions are drawn from “Gender-Lens Philanthropy: A Practical Guide for Canadian Foundations”:
- Gender Equity: Equal access to resources, opportunity, and power for men, women, boys, girls and trans and gender non-conforming people.
- Gender Mainstreaming: Integrating a gender analysis through the strategy and operation of programs or organizations.
- Gender Analysis: Examining gender equity and/or gender norms on a problem or issue and understanding the effects of a program or policy on people of different genders.
Many organizations use different forms of gender analysis and gender mainstreaming in their research, funding, and grant-making. Since 2018, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) has incorporated a Gender Based Analysis (GBA+) into their action plan and EDI initiatives. This includes gender mainstreaming in its corporate strategy and performance division, as well as into all of its program evaluations. SSHRC also implemented GBA+ and unconscious bias training for all of its staff and reviewers.
To find out more about GBA+, please follow this link.
SSHRC, Gender-Based Analysis Plus
Key takeaways:
- Intersectionality is a concept for understanding when people experience multiple forms/intersections of oppressions.
- Intersectionality can be understood as a “Prism for understanding Social Justice Issues”. (Crenshaw)
- Feminist movements (particularly 20th century Feminism) was targeted at primarily heterosexual, white, middle and upper-class women, thus excluding many people. (Coleman)
- It is important that companies, councils, and research teams are actively engaged in gender-related issues, as well as support and practice gender equity.
Race and Anti-Racism
In June 2020, in the midst of global pandemic and Ibram X. Kendi wrote that “History is calling the future from the streets of protest. What choice will we make? What world will we create? What will we be? There are only two choices: racist or anti-racist.” (Kendi, “The American Nightmare” The Atlantic, 1 June 2020).
That there is no neutrality on the question of race, that you are either a racist or an anti-racist, was not a new concept for Kendi or other activists and thinkers that summer, but this framing gained global attention given the stark issues of police violence and racialized health disparities of the particular historical moment.
What does it mean to be anti-racist? This question is addressed in the first resource, an overview by Anna North on the work of Kendi and other thinkers on anti-racism.
Anna North, “What it means to be anti-racist” Vox 3 June 2020
For researchers, connecting anti-racism to research agendas means considering how research agendas are formed (what research questions are asked and answered? What topics receive research funding and support?) and conducted (who are the researchers? What research methods are prioritized?). In the context of conceptions of ant-racism and de-centering whiteness in the academy, these questions gain critical importance even in the case of research topics not explicitly or overtly related to race.
The following Library resource guide from the University of Minnesota provides a starting point for researchers in thinking about antiracist research approaches.
University of Minnesota, “Conducting research through an anti-racism lens”
This final resource explores racial and ethnic disparities within the specific context of policy research organizations. According to the authors, “if, as researchers, we aim to build knowledge that helps shape and advance solutions to the challenges of blocked mobility and widening inequality, we must do better at explicitly examining the structural and systemic forces at work.” (Brown et al. 2019)
Brown et. al. “Confronting Structural R…rch and Policy Analysis” February 2019
Micro-Aggressions
What are micro-aggressions? How might they shape a research environment?
Dr. Derald Wing Sue, a professor from Columbia University, defines micro-aggressions as “the everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.” (Wing Sue, 10 November 2010)
This video features an interview with Dr. Wing Sue discussing micro-aggressions including how unintentional forms of micro-aggressions are often the most aggressive and harmful, and the effect of “constant, continual, cumulative” micro-aggression on BIPOC individuals.
“How Unintentional but Insidious Bias Can Be the Most Harmful,” PBS, 2015 (7:57)
The next resource is a video from Keele University looking at microaggressions within the education system.
Keele University “An everyday dimension…nd microaggressions” 9 May 2019 (6:49)
Intercultural Communication
Take a moment to think about the following questions.
- What are the primary forms of communication in research?
- What does effective communication look like? What are the barriers to this?
“Sustained face-to-face conversations encourage listening and questioning across lines of difference. Trust in this type of group process only grows as students feel freer and more confident to probe issues, challenge themselves and others, express anger, offer support, and raise difficult or controversial questions.” – Ximena Zúñiga
Ximena Zúñiga, “Bridging Differences Through Dialogue” (2003)
Key Takeaways:
- Confronting racism in research requires researchers to learn and be cognizant of history and its lasting implications.
- “Micro aggressions are reflections of world views of inclusion, exclusion, superiority, inferiority, and they come out in ways that are outside the level of conscious awareness of an individual.”
- Conversations about social identity and social stratification are important, if challenging. These conversations highlight structural issues, adn raise awareness of different perspectives and experiences within these structures.
Gender and Race in Research Practice: Collecting data on Black experiences with COVID-19
How do issues and topics regarding Gender and Race connect to research practice? Why should researchers consider these issues in their research projects and approaches?
The following resource demonstrates the importance of intersectionality and racial awareness in research practice and research projects. The article follows the research of Roberta Timothy, an Assistant Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Timothy’s project seeks to understand the transnational impact of COVID-19 on the African and Black diaspora. Using a survey-based approach, the research study seeks to understand Black Canadian’s experiences with vaccine uptake, respondents’ experience as front-line and essential workers, mental health, migrant work and parenting.
“U of T researcher launches project to …VID-19,” U of T News, 22 January 2021
Timothy says, “There’s a history of data being used for the ill treatment of Black people. There’s a history of not trusting data and how it used. But Black folks associated this stuff with white people coming in and doing bad research – it is quite different when it’s Black-led. This is why this project is Black-centred and Black-led, so their voices can be heard.”
For more on this issue in the US context, take a look at the COVID-19 racial data gathered via the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research.
Reflection Questions
- How does intersectionality contribute to your understanding of inclusion and/or exclusion in research?
- Do you think there is gender bias in Research? If so, how does it manifest and how can it be mitigated?
- What are practical strategies for considering race in your field of research?
Conclusion
You’ve now reached the end of the second module: Gender and Race in Research. Congratulations!
We hope that you gained insight into important issues relating to gender and race in research. For further resources on the topics introduced here, click “Further Readings”. When you are ready, you can continue with Module #3: Decolonizing Research by clicking the link below.