Refreshing Your Knowledge: Gender Analysis
Refreshing Your Knowledge: Gender Analysis
Module 2:
GENDER ANALYSIS
Therefore, before making any interventions, it is important to analyse the problem or issue from a gender perspective and
try to identify ways to address the root causes of inequalities.
Gender analysis presents variety of approaches and methods used for systematically examining the differences
between the roles that women and men play, responsibilities they have, the different levels of power they hold, their
differing needs, constraints and opportunities, and how all this differences impact on their lives.
It also help us to understand and asses how and why gender differences and inequalities are relevant to the subject
under discussion and to identifying where there are opportunities to narrow these inequalities and deciding on the
approach to be taken.
Gender analysis creates a “gender looking-glass” through which we examine our context.
When conducting gender analysis we often assess the following areas from the perspective of gender: i
How the gender division of labour and patterns of decision-making affects the programme/project, and how the
programme/project affects the gender division of labour and decision making? Who normally does what? Has that
changed recently (due to a disaster, economic upheaval or illness)? What are the gender roles in the division of
labour?
Who has access to and control over resources, assets and benefits, including from programme/project or other
interventions. Which factors influence access to and control over resources, e.g. age, sex, wealth, location of living,
level of education level, networks, and relationships/friendships with local leaders?
What are women’s/girls’ and men’s/boys’ different needs, priorities and strengths? What are women’s and men’s
strategic and practical needs, and how to address those needs? What are men’s, women’s, girls’, boy’s strengths,
capacities and vulnerabilities (physical, organisations)? How to build on existing strengths?
What is the level of complexity of gender relations, what are different norms and beliefs about gender that amplify
differences, and where are the opportunities for addressing gender inequality?
What are the barriers and constraints in accessing women and men participating and benefiting equally from the
programme/project.?
Gender analysis further directs us to see what are the best strategies and approaches to address harmful norms,
structures, behaviours and other constraints and how to transform existing gender relations.
It also help us to better understand what type of disaggregated information is available, where are the gaps, and how to
measure the impact of the strategies on gender equality and development outcomes using gender indicators.
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Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
Gender analysis should be seen as a foundation of strategic and effective gender integration processes in programmes,
projects, research and policy and should be essential part of any diagnostic work before developing and implementing any
interventions. It should be planned and budgeted for as early in the design of the process as possible.
On practical level, gender analysis can be integrated into other assessments (needs, situational assessment, etc.), we
plan to conduct or ideally, preformed as a standalone analysis.
There are many tools and methods available for undertaking a gender analysis:
Harvard Analytical Framework - the division of labour between men and women in agricultural and in more urban
settings,
Moser Framework - the division of labour between men and women in agricultural and in more urban settings (triple
roles),
Levy Framework - gender mainstreaming in institutions,
Gender Analysis Matrix (GAM) - gender differentials in the impact of projects at the community level,
Equality and Empowerment Framework (Longwe) - assessment of the contribution of interventions in all sectors to
the empowerment of women,
Capacities and Vulnerabilities Framework (CVA) - humanitarian and disaster preparedness issues,
People Oriented Framework (POP) - refugee issues, based on an expanded approach to the Harvard Framework,
Social Relations Framework (SRF) - sustainable development and institutional change.
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Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
HARVARD FRAMEWORK
The two frameworks that are used the most are Harvard and Moser frameworks, which have been particularly important
in explaining the sexual division of labour, which is the central social structure that gender analysis seeks to reveal, and
the differences between productive and socially reproductive work.
The Harvard framework was developed in the 1980s in the Harvard Institute for International Relations to facilitate the
integration of women into project analysis. It aimed to make an economic case for allocating resources to women as
well as men, and secondly, to assist planners to design more efficient projects.
This framework is considered as a useful tool for gathering data, understanding women's and men's roles in a society,
and taking account of external forces which affect development planning. It is a flexible instrument which can be used at
many different levels of planning and analysis, and can be expanded to disaggregate data according to cultural, ethnic
and economic factors as well as sex and age.
Based on analysis of all mentioned frameworks, Hunt in her Introduction to gender analysis concepts and stepsiv (2004)
came up with the list of 11 key steps that are often used in the gender analysis processes:
STEP 1: Collect sex disaggregated household, workplace, community and all other data that are relevant to the
policy field or programme/project. This will allow you to identify gender differences and inequalities, to analyse
the experiences of both women and men and to eventually address the potential difference.
For example, there is a better basis for developing agricultural policy and targeting extension programmes, if
there is information that goes beyond the number of “farmers” and what they produce. Disaggregating this data
by sex, and asking questions about who produces what, would not only provide information on the number of
women and men farmers, but would also allow for assessments of whether there are differences and inequalities
between women and men in the crops they produce and the work they do, the income they gain from it, etc.v
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Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
STEP 2: Assess how the gender division of labour and patterns of decision-making affect the programme/project,
and how the programme/project affects the gender division of labour and decision making.
In order to explore who does what type of work, we can use Mooser’s framework distinguishing between
productive, household and community roles:vi
productive work produces goods and services for home consumption and sale. This includes employment
and self-employment in both the formal and informal sectors.
Both women and men can be involved in productive work, but their professions, activities and responsibilities
often vary according to the gender division of labour. Women’s productive work is often carried out alongside
their domestic and childcare responsibilities (reproductive work) and tends to be less visible and less valued
than men’s productive work.
reproductive work involves the tasks associated with domestic work, care and maintenance of the
household and its members. Women tend to be most active in reproductive work, such as preparing food,
bearing and caring for children, caring for other household members and maintaining the house. Men may be
responsible for constructing the home, household security and decision-making. This work is usually unpaid.
Although there has been increased recognition of the input of domestic and “caring” work in recent years,
these activities are still often overlooked, unmeasured and undervalued.
community work involves the activities for the management and wellbeing of the community that are
voluntary and unpaid. Women’s community activities include provisioning and maintenance of resources
which are used by everyone, such as water, healthcare, education. These activities are undertaken as an
extension of their reproductive role and are normally unpaid and carried out in their free time. In contrast it is
mainly men who are involved in politics at the community.
Women’s labour is all too often invisible and women receive little or no recognition for their efforts with these
activities not even officially classified as being labour.
Activity Analysis is a gender-based analytical tool capable of identifying the activities performed by men and women in
their daily lives. It is based on the sexual division of labour and takes into account the frequency of the activity and the
amount of time devoted to it.
Activity Profile Tool (24-hour Day chart) includes making the gender division of labour visible. It can be carried out by
mapping all the activities of men and women (can include girls and boys) in the household over a twenty four hour
period.
It provides for disaggregation by sex, age, and other factors, and for recording the amount of time spent on activities,
and the location of the activities. vii
STEP 3: Assess who has access to and control over resources, assets and benefits, including programme/project
benefits. Having access to resources and control over them is fundamental to being a fully active and productive
(socially, economically and politically) participant in society.
Resources and assets include national and productive resources, information, education, income, services,
employment and benefits, finance/loans.
When analysing this dimension, particularly have in mind:viii
Legal rights and entitlements: How people of different genders are regarded and treated by the customary
and formal legal codes and judicial systems, right to vote/have a vote, can enter into legal agreements and
contracts, own property and make reproductive choices, e.g. rights and entitlements which often deny or
inhibit their access to resources and benefits. Gender-based differences in legal rights and status affect girls,
women and sexual minorities in particular.
Among them, these involve:
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Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
National and cultural policies around asset ownership (i.e., women’s ability to legally own assets
without male permission, joint ownership, ability to make asset-related decisions).
National and cultural policies around women’s access to land and access to inputs. National and
cultural policies around inheritance.
Entitlements to health care, representation, due process and family formation or recognition.
Power: The capacity to control resources and to make autonomous and independent decisions free of
coercion. Gender norms influence the extent to which individuals can make and act on decisions about
acquiring resources; beliefs; one’s own body; children; occupations; affairs of the household, community or
state; voting; running for office; legislation; entering into legal contracts; and moving about and associating
with others. Power is a part of each of the above domains, as well as a domain in its own right.
It identifies the resources individuals can command to carry out their activities and the benefits they derive from them
(benefits can include outside income, training, etc.). By distinguishing between access to resources and benefits, and
control over them it is possible to assess the relative power of members of a society, community or economy.
STEP 4: Understand women’s/girls’ and men’s/boys’ different needs, priorities and strengths.
Gender analysis recognizes that women's needs differ from men's needs, because of the triple role women play,
as well as their subordinate position to men in society. When analysing needs of women and men, gender
analysis (based on Mooser's framework) makes distinction between practical gender needs/interests and
strategic gender needs/interests: x
Practical gender needs present necessities such as adequate living conditions, water provision, health care and
employment. These are the short-term, immediate needs/interests, which often need to be met regularly on a
day-to-day basis. They are easily identified. They can be addressed through direct action such as installing water
pumps and building schools or health facilities.
Practical needs often arise from the actual and immediate situation in which men and women find themselves, for
example, after a disaster i.e. their consist of their need for shelter, health care and money. Practical needs relate
to people’s basic, material needs for day-to-day survival. Projects working towards meeting these needs are
often concerned with improving the conditions of women and men through more efficient resource use, and are
not designed to challenge existing gender roles and divisions of labour.
Meeting women’s practical gender needs is essential in order to improve living conditions, but in itself it will not change
the prevailing disadvantaged (subordinate) position of women. It may in fact reinforce the gender division of labour.xi
Strategic gender needs are engaged in addressing and overcoming the women’s unequal status in the society.
They relate to issues of power and control, sexual division of labour, restricted legal protection and rights and
access to other resources such as education. They are not as easily identified by women themselves as their
practical needs; therefore, they may need specific opportunities to do so.
Strategic needs are addressed through initiatives designed to challenge existing gender roles and relationships
between women and men. In meeting strategic gender needs, a programme sets out to change the relative
positions of women and men in order to promote empowerment and gender equity. Therefore, the strategic
needs are linked to long term process of changing societal attitudes, including the attitudes of women and men
themselves, or legal and policy changes. Meeting strategic needs may include changes in the gender division of
labour (women taking on work not traditionally seen as women’s work, engaging men in domestic responsibilities,
child rearing, giving women equal legal rights, equal wages and securing women's control over their own bodies).
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Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
The distinction between practical and strategic needs is not clear-cut however, and projects or programmes may
address either or both, depending on the context.
Practical and strategic gender interests/needs should not be seen as entirely distinct and separate, but rather as a
continuum. By consulting women on their practical gender needs entry points to address gender inequalities in the
longer term (strategic gender interests/needs) can be created.
The gender analysis and its tools can help us understand, which women’s and men’s practical and strategic
needs are. It also helps us to answer the questions:
Would it be more appropriate in the given circumstances to address women’s (and men’s) practical
gender needs, or to take a more transformatory approach and address the underlying causes of their
situation, hereby responding to their strategic interests, and why?
How would these approaches impact upon likely project outcomes, and on men and women in the
situation under review?
How would they impact on the overall social context?
STEP 5: Understand the complexity of gender relations, beliefs, perceptions, knowledge and social norms of, and
about women, men, girls and boys and how this constrains or provides opportunities for addressing gender
inequality. This domain also includes beliefs and social norms about women’s and men’s acceptable behaviour,
how they are differently valued in society, and what they are capable of.
STEP 6: Assess the barriers and constraints of women and men participating and benefiting equally from the
programme/project.
This also includes mapping practical issues, such as questioning what constraints limit women’s full involvement
in the field in question or project activities. This includes, analysing for example how women organize childcare,
when participating (e.g. Will women watch each other’s children? Is an older child left behind? Can small children
come to meetings/ trainings/ places of employment?), the level of women’s autonomy to be able to participate,
her mobility and freedom of movement t (i.e., How far are women able to travel for trainings, to deliver milk, etc.?
Are they able to travel alone or do they need to be accompanied?).
STEP 7: Develop strategies and decide on the appropriate areas for intervention to address barriers and constraints,
include these strategies in programme/project design and implementation, and ensure that they are adequately
resourced. E.g. answering the question, what are appropriate areas for intervention, so that these constraints can
be mitigated?
STEP 8: Assess counterparts/partners capacity for gender sensitive planning, implementation and monitoring, and
develop strategies to strengthen capacity.
STEP 9: Assess the potential of the programme/project to empower women, address strategic gender interests and
transform gender relations.
STEP 10: Develop gender-sensitive indicators to monitor participation, benefits, the effectiveness of gender equality
strategies, and changes in gender relations.
STEP 11: Apply the above information and analysis throughout the program/project cycle.
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Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
There are often various types of existing analyses and sources of information and data that can be collated, synthesized,
and utilised in developing our gender analyses , these include:
Official national statistics, such as household Income and Expenditure Surveys; Macroeconomic Policy Analyses
(if gender disaggregated)
Gender analyses and studies by other donors and NGO partners, academics, such as journal articles, national
surveys on gender-based violence, gender-related policies in the project area, and their socio-economic
analyses which address gender issues and provide sex disaggregated data.
United Nations reports and reports of other Inter-governmental agencies, such as Regional and country
Millennium Development Goals Reports (Gender equality is MDG3), UNDP Human Development Reports;
Ideally, we combine the existing data with the primary data on gender norms and practices related to the project or study
focus. Getting a primary data requires staff to interact with the source and extract information, including through focus
groups and personal interviews, surveys, etc.
However, when doing a gender analysis, those responsible for carrying it out should begin with a critical
assessment of themselves and their own cultural views. It is important not to bring your own “cultural
baggage” with you when analysing a situation from a gender perspective.xii
PARTICIPATORY APPROACHxiii
Since the aim of the gender analysis is to shape development and other interventions with the positive social impact, the
ideal is to carry it out in a participatory and open manner, reaching out and directly involving potential beneficiary
community or target group of the intervention. After all, they know the best what their needs and possibilities are!
In this regard, try to make a gender analysis as participatory as possible, including try to:
conduct individual interviews with members of the community who best represent their peers;
ensure that all individuals tagged as key for the intervention have been duly interviewed, or have otherwise
played a direct role in securing the information or in utilising the analytical tools;
verify the information through group discussions with the different parties involved;
involve a sufficient number of participants to reflect the considerable variety of socio-economic situations and
identities that exist within a given community (e.g. ensuring variety based on economic status, race, religion,
etc.);
conduct the consultation process with both single-sex groups (both men and women) and mixed groups, making
sure that women's voices are heard.
Be as broad as possible and try to involve all the relevant stakeholders (communities, the government, technical
agencies, NGOs, the UN and other international agencies). However, always have in mind that women’s participation in
decision-making is generally lower than that of men, thus specific strategies are generally required to ensure that
women’s voices are heard.
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Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
Some members of the civil society argue that addressing gender inequality in programming is similar to “social
engineering” and goes against cultural norms in different societies. People conducting gender analyses point out that
what is considered to be the “cultural norm” may, in another sense, refer to the disguised strong desire by men to retain
certain benefits. Women, on the other hand, may have a different perspective on issues as opposed to men when it
comes to their own needs and rights.
If conducting participatory gender analysis and research have in mind some practical questions before beginning
your gender analysis:
Have you chosen the location that is accessible to Can you speak the local language? If not, who will
everyone? translate for you? How much will you lose in the
translation of language?
How can you schedule activities so that all the relevant How can you be assertive about what you want to do or
people have time to participate? find out without being over controlling?
How will you ensure that different groups have a chance How can you be knowledgeable, clear about what are you
to present their views? How will you overcome doing and ensure that you do not pre-empt the answers?
gatekeepers (those that do not allow you access to other How will you make sure you are not trying to prove a
people)? gender-related point, but genuinely try to find out about
the gender roles and relations in the community?
How will you deal with dominant person that answers for How do you plan to involve the quieter participants?
everyone?
How good are you at listening – do you hear everything? How can you remain observant during gender analysis,
Can you work out hidden meanings? and what should you be observing? How do you know
what to look for?
How would your identity and who you are influence the
research and how can you overcome it? How would they
perceive you i.e. rich and powerful? Are you viewed as an
outsider/insider? Would people tell you what they think
you want to hear so that they can get access to
resources?xiv
Adopted from: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2013
STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
Use a pre-prepared list of set questions. The same questions can be asked of a number of individuals and their
different answers compared. Remember that one-on-one interviews can yield irrelevant or inaccurate
information. If the interviewee is poor (and/or of limited education) they might be tempted to say what they think
the interviewer wants to hear. There is a risk that the interviewee perceives there to be a “correct” answer,
which does not necessarily reflect their genuine belief.
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Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
Semi-structured interviews involve guided conversations in which only the broad topics are decided in advance.
Interviewers are free to ask new questions as new insights arise in response to the answers that interviewees
give. Questions tend to be “open ended” rather than providing yes/no answers.
BRAINSTORMING
When an issue or problem has been identified, everyone in a particular group is invited to give their ideas
regarding possible solutions. All ideas are welcomed without criticism and recorded. Ideas are then combined
and improved upon until a coherent and comprehensive list of suggestions on how to deal with the problem is
drawn up.
QUESTIONNAIRES
Questionnaires are sent out or distributed to a range of individuals. Contrary to dealing with people face-to-face,
this approach means a larger number of individuals can be reached. Questionnaires can also help produce
statistical representations of opinions. The results of different answers can be correlated for each item i.e. age,
sex, social position and so on. However, care needs to be taken in how questionnaires are designed
(particularly how questions are worded) to avoid questions being misinterpreted.
DIRECT OBSERVATION
An interpretation of what is observed is made by project planners and cross-checked with other methods. For
example, observations can be made about the type of dwellings in a given area, with criteria such as roof type
used to determine levels of poverty. Researchers can observe activities at the market place to gauge economic
activities, who is selling what produce and how frequently. Government sources can later be used to cross
check the perceived numbers of informal workers and market products with formal statistics.
i Adopted from International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Gender Training Pack of the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, July 2003 and Hunt, J, Introduction to gender analysis concepts and
steps, Development Bulletin, 2004, no. 64, pp. 100-106.
ii Adopted fom United Nations Development Programme. Guide to using the manual on “How to Prepare a Gender Strategy. San
Salvador, 2004
iii Oxfam UK and Ireland. The Oxfam Gender Training, Oxford, 1994
iv Hunt, J, Introduction to gender analysis concepts and steps, Development Bulletin, 2004, no. 64, pp. 100-106.
v United Nations. Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Gender Mainstreain. An
ix
Manual for Trainers: Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming Module 2: Refreshing your Knowledge
vi Adopted fom United Nations Development Programme. Guide to using the manual on “How to Prepare a Gender Strategy. San
Salvador, 2004 & FAO. Regional Office in Bankog. Mainstreaming gender into into project cycle in the fisheries sector. Bankgok, 2011
vii Oxfam UK and Ireland. The Oxfam Gender Training, Oxford, 1994
viii FHI 360. Gender integration framework. How to integrate gender in every aspect of our work, 2010
ix
Oxfam UK and Ireland. The Oxfam Gender Training, Oxford, 1994
x Adopted fom United Nations Development Programme. Guide to using the manual on “How to Prepare a Gender Strategy. San
Salvador, 2004 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Gender Training Pack of the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Geneva, July 2003
xi United Nations Development Programme. Gender Mains t reaming a Key Driver of Development in Environment & Energy. New
York, 2007
xii International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Gender Training Pack of the International Federation of Red
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Geneva, July 2003
xiv Ibdn.
xv Adopted from International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Gender Training Pack of the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Geneva, July 2003