Despite the fact that women represent 50% of the world’s population, all too often women in particular and gender in general are absent from much academic research. Research that does not include a sex/gender perspective is lacking in that the research is guided by the assumption that genders do not interact with the world in a different manner. All too often research that ignores gender is androcentric and assumes the male body and/or experience can serve as a proxy for all genders when we know that gender often impacts the way we experience life.
The inclusion of a sex/gender perspective is important for society in that without it we often ignore the experiences of many people. In fact, the information and/or products produced may even be harmful. The assumption that medicines tested on “male” bodies will impact “female” bodies in the same way has been proven false on numerous occasions with sometimes disastrous results. At the very least we much ask and answer the question of whether genders are differently impacted by a given procedure, law, product or cultural process. There may be no difference in experience but without asking the question we cannot actually know the answer.
The overall aim of GenderEX is to further the adoption of a sex/gender perspective in research content across multiple scientific disciplines in Turkey by enhancing the capacity of the Gender and Women’s Studies Research Center at Kadir Has University for training and engaging more researchers into this field, with a primary focus on Early Stage Researchers (ESRs).
GenderEX specific objectives are: 1. To raise awareness and communicating the benefits of integrating the sex and gender dimension into research content in all academic fields. 2. To increase the capacity and pool of researchers that integrate sex/gender perspective in research content, with special focus on Early Stage Researchers (ESRs). 3. To create networking opportunities that generate future partnerships for academic production that includes sex/gender perspective in research content. 4. To strengthen the research management, administration skills and research reputation at Gender and Women’s Studies Research Center at Kadir Has University.
