From a UCD Social science department. ..
I'm a social scientist at an Irish university. The Irish Research Council is the statutory body which funds research in the area. Funding is in very short supply. I have applied for a recent call for funding. As usual there is a form to complete, lots of boxes to fill in and a referee to organize. For the most part it is standard fare and not unreasonable.
But there is one extraordinary exception. There is a significant section where you are required to attest to the “sex/gender dimension” of your research. Marks go for this. You are instructed that “The Council funds excellent research and excellent research fully considers the potential biological sex and social gender elements of the research content to maximise the impact and societal benefit of research".
Not including the sex-gender dimension into the methodology, content and impact assessment of research can lead to poor research and missed opportunities. In order “that any assumptions made or issues addressed are based on the best available evidence and information”, the sex-gender dimension has to be fully considered”. Reference is made to other documents, including a “gender toolkit” that tell you what you should consider.
There are so many problems with this. For a start it is intellectual bullying of the highest order, you are told to go along with a particular view if you want to get money. In almost all research on human data (in social sciences, psychology, business) it would be the norm to distinguish between males and females. If you are interested in sexuality or labour markets for example it would obviously be necessary. In other areas it might not be so important. In some cases for example you might estimate different models for males and females. In others you might make a simpler adjustment. That is a judgment the researcher has to make based on their knowledge of the area, the data available, the relevant theory etc. We don’t need to be preached at to tell us what makes good research. The applications will be judged by external experts who will judge whether it has scientific merit. Ultimately, the judgment will be made by peer reviewers if it is to be published. While sex/gender may well be important there are other dimensions that may be equally or more important for example age, education level, ethnicity. Why are we not required to be politically correct with regard to these? Obviously because there is no equivalent of the feminists who have imposed their wishes on the process. Anyone I have discussed this with (male and female) regards all this with utter contempt. No individual researcher is going to publicly oppose this. The academic environment in Ireland is not one where dissent, or even debate, is encouraged. The universities could and should speak out. What chance of that?
To see what researchers have to put with see the link below. As an example we are told “research on a new breast cancer treatment should include male patients”. Breast cancer is rare amongst men. Aren’t the researchers best placed to make their own judgment about whether this is a good use of resources?
http://www.yellowwindow.be/genderinresearch/downloads/YW2009_GenderToolKit_Module1.pdf
Brian: it would seem to me to be reasonable to not include this. Its adding bureaucracy to an already bureaucratic system. Let the researchers determine the dimensions they see as important. If gender is one that they miss and it's important then the external reviews will and should pick that up.
