NIHR's inaugural Sex and Gender in Research Policy

[RethinkingLife]

At long last, a major research funding award body is adopting sex and gender in its research policies. via Criado Perez.

I am giving another talk, this time at the National Institute for Health and Care Research. It’s a virtual event to mark the launch of their new requirements to make accounting for sex and gender a specific requirement of funding, which is a HUGE development; when I was writing Invisible Women, I found not a single UK funding or regulatory body which had any requirements on sex analysis, so this is such a welcome development. It’s a half-day event, with a bunch of great speakers, including Dr Kate Womersley, who GFPs may remember as one of the founders of the excellent MESSAGE Project which I think it’s fair to say has been a significant driver behind this shift, so three cheers for GFP Kate and her colleagues! When people ask me after reading Invisible Women what they can do to help address the data gap I’m simply going to point them her way.

The NIHR acknowledges that sex and gender significantly shape individuals' and populations' experiences of health, illness, and social care, as well as broader health determinants. These factors can influence:
● the medical conditions people are susceptible to
● the symptoms people experience
● the treatments and quality of care they receive
● disease progression and overall health outcomes
● how social care needs are identified, recognised, and addressed
● health inequalities

This event highlights NIHR’s commitment to addressing the crucial role of sex and gender in health and social care research and policy.

NIHR Virtual Event - Sex and Gender in Research
Monday 10th March 2025 online
10:00 - 13:00

Read and register (no fee):

https://web.cvent.com/event/c9ea86c5-b284-48ed-80f8-78aab7b25687/summary?

Hm. Sex, the reality of human bodies.

Gender? Unless they mean to discuss:

• how to record actual sex and also self- described gender
• how to convince those with a gender different from their actual sex what checks and treatments they need
• how to do the above in ways that don't annoy those without a gender identity and even make them distrustful of the medical profession
• how to provide health care and social care that includes single sex, not single gender, provision for those who want and need it

For starters.

Health inequalities, treatment and quality of care and how social care needs are identified, recognised, and addressed are all impacted by gender in that they aren't actually about your sex but about the way society expects you to act and be treated because of your sex. (The way we used to talk about gendered expectations). Some will even be affected by gender identity, to some extent, though I would think far less than by gender by on sex.

Oh, I really don't think they mean gendered expectations.

It might be worth registering and attending the event to understand, in full, what it is that they are launching and why Criado Perez is so excited about it (and also a speaker).