After studying the topic for over five years, a group of international researchers funded by the European Union was unable to define the terms “sex” and “gender”, but concluded that the concepts should be included in all future academic research.

“GENDER-NET Plus”, an initiative, began funding 13 transnational projects in 2018 with almost 400 researchers from 12 different countries. According to a grant contract, the European Union has awarded GENDERNET Plus almost $4.2 million.

The Lancet published a summary, “Integrating Gender Analysis Into Research”, with 16 coauthors, as the various GENDERNET Plus projects concluded. The authors of the article are from a variety of prestigious universities around the world, including Yale University, Oxford University, and McGill.

The report was published in July. It stated that it is becoming increasingly important to incorporate considerations of gender and sex into all research fields to improve accuracy, produce high-quality science and reproducibility, and to generate innovative, inclusive and equitable findings. The report concludes that “we hope to promote consideration of intersectional gender and sex integration in all research.”

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The report, despite stating that “all research branches” should take “sex and female gender into account,” was unable provide a definition for either term.

According to the report, “existing databases and resources often define sex and gender as male or female. This is an oversimplification that’s no longer appropriate.” “Sex” could be more appropriate in research that’s focused on “biological characteristics.”

The report also failed to define the term “gender,” stating that “there is no standard measure of gender” as “the items and tools to be used must be evaluated and determined based on the study objectives.”

The report states that “while tempting, it was thought that creating a single authoritative voice (e.g. guidelines) ran the risk of becoming dogmatic/political, and would be contrary to scientific debate and freedom.”

The report makes several recommendations for future research, including: 1) “Define gender and/or sex (and specify relevant dimensions), as they are preliminarily understood for research purposes,” 2) “Qualify/adjust definitions/language in light of factors that involve participants,” and 3)”Emphasize the reasons (and definitions and operationalizations) for the terms.” In the report, recommendations for future research include: 1) “Define sex and/or gender (and specify the relevant dimensions) as they will preliminarily be understood for purposes of the research,” 2) “Qualify or adjust definitions/language based on factors involving participants,” and 3) “Emphasize why the terms (and definitions, operationalizations, etc.) have been chosen.”

“Important obligations of gender-aware researchers,” according to the report, include “gender-responsiveness,” ensuring the research group is diverse, and evaluating the parental-leave policies. The report suggests that incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion practices into research will promote a “gender sensitive approach.”

The report states that “researchers” and “knowledge producers” are in a “position of privilege and authority” and “receive a certain amount of trust.” Therefore, they should ask themselves if their research might “inadvertently hurt the population, or specific groups, communities, or individuals,” as well as “consider how the findings of [their] work may be interpreted.”

The report states that “an intersectional and gendered research approach is intrinsically tied to a commitment towards social justice, equity and gender equality.”