Project shows benefits of applying sex and gender analysis in research

From Stanford University News:

Since Schiebinger launched the Gendered Innovations project in the summer of 2009, the project has produced 14 case studies to demonstrate how applying sex and gender analysis to research studies has helped create new knowledge and technologies.

The project was initiated with start-up funding from Stanford's Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research. Schiebinger, a former director of the Clayman Institute, is the editor of the 2008 book, Gendered Innovations in Science and Engineering.

All the project's peer-reviewed case studies can be found on its website, including:

• Stem Cells: Analyzing Sex
• Animal Research: Designing Health and Biomedical Research
• De-Gendering the Knee: Overemphasizing Sex Differences as a Problem
• Heart Disease in Women: Formulating Research Questions
• Pregnant Crash Test Dummies: Rethinking Standards and Reference Models
• Water: Participatory Research and Design

"The website is a resource for researchers," Schiebinger said. "It's globally accessible and freely available to anyone with an Internet connection.

An international cast of contributors

The Gendered Innovations project was developed through six international workshops. In 2011, the European Union joined the project, followed by the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2012.

"The project was created through a unique international collaboration of scientists, engineers and gender experts," Schiebinger said.

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