Sex, gender and diversity are a key elements in many research areas and have been important aspects of research in different fields for a long time. The relevance of those dimensions has moved even more into focus in recent years.
While in some cases the importance of considering sex, gender and/or diversity seems quite obvious, in other areas the effect on the consistence and quality of the research might only reveal itself by closer inspection.
Do rats know my sex?
"Male, but not female, experimenters induce intense stress in rodents that can dampen pain responses, according to a paper published today in Nature Methods. Such reactions affect the rodents’ behaviour and potentially confound the results of animal studies, the study suggests."
Article Nature
Do AIs have prejudices?
"Job application software, for example, can be a source of discrimination against people of color and women; search engines erroneously deliver discriminatory images. It has long been clear that something must be done about the prejudices hidden in algorithms."
Volkswagen Stiftung
Does the climate change influence sex?
"Climate change poses a threat to species with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). A recent study on green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) at the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR) showed a highly female-skewed sex ratio with almost all juvenile turtles being female."
Article PubMed
Taking sex, gender and diversity into account can increase the quality of research.
This does not only contribute to excellence and relevance of science.
In some cases the reflection of the relevance of sex, gender and diversity for the findings and the transfer of those has dramatic effects on health, safety, justice and well-being in society.
The reflection of sex, gender and diversity …
“… enhance[s] the scientific quality of the results …”
DFG„… leads to added value of research excellence, creativity and business opportunities …“
EU Horizon Europe
As a result, the reflection of sex, gender and/or diversity is mandatory in different funding programs, e.g. by DFG and EU.
Further information and resources
Factsheet EU: „How inclusive analysis contributes to research and innovation“
Nature Article: „Sex and gender analysis improves science and engineering“