5 Learnings from our Gender Practitioners

1. Say no to extractive data collection

Women are more vulnerable to extractive data collection. Ensure you are only collecting data points that won’t cause harm to the community you’re working with. Always circle back to them with your findings and insights to balance out the power dynamics around data.

2. Play out the lifecycle

If your program is designed to drive positive impact for women and girls – ensure a lifecycle design lens. What happens after they “graduate?” Given the social dynamics women have to navigate, this increases the chances of success for your programs.

3. Consider non-linearity

Women are more likely to go in and out of work, work part-time or several jobs, peak in their careers outside the norm, retire earlier or later – especially because they take on caregiving responsibilities. Design for non-linear lives to serve a wider audience.

4. Be conscious of the role of men and boys

Some of our gender practitioners believe we have to include men and boys in our gender-equity solutions because they are part of the problem. Others veer strongly towards women-only spaces because that’s what their communities need. There’s no one right answer, and it's not an either/or – but it’s important to make that decision consciously.

5. Ensure your success metrics actually measure women's success

Chances are that your project success metrics measure the success of your project – and sometimes that doesn’t necessarily mean the success of women (as she sees it and needs it). This goes both ways – maybe your goals are too ambitious or not ambitious enough. Understand what success means to her and ensure the metrics reflect that too.


The Unconforming Series

This issue is part of the Unconforming newsletter series: our biweekly newsletter on gender-lens design. Sign up to get it in your inbox.

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Women’s Voices: Shrill or Obliging, but Nothing in Between