Heart disease is now the leading killer of American and European women, but too often women are grossly misdiagnosed. This is because heart disease has historically been defined as a “male disease,” and doctors were taught to look out for symptoms based on men’s physiologies — the stabbing pain in the heart rather than women’s more diffuse flu-like symptoms. As Dr. Londa Schiebingers’ Gendered Innovations body of case studies teaches us: becoming more gender-aware in your scientific research will maximize your impact and global reach. But how do you do you actually go about doing that in your daily job?
Nick Perkins, PhD, Director of Scidev.net launched the online course at the European Gender Summit in Brussels November 9.
SciDev’s new online course was designed to help students understand why gender is such an important component of research. It also explores the implications for science and global policy agendas, including the climate change agreements and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The course draws on a wide range of practical examples and provides activities to build competence regardless of whether the student is conducting research or shaping a policy.
The course was supported with a $39,000 grant from the Elsevier Foundation in 2015. Introducing the course at the Gender Summit Europe in November, Scidev.net Director Dr. Nick Perkins said:
"Too often in research, we think gender dynamics don’t matter. This is an easy conclusion when you are nearly all men. This course describes when it might matter – and importantly how gender awareness can increase the profile and the relevance of your research."
What you can learn from the course
- What we mean by integrating gender into research
- Why gender awareness in scientific research is so important
- What gender awareness means for different areas of science
- How to integrate gender for better research quality and impact
- Basic advocacy methods for ensuring your research informs wider global agendas, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- How to ensure your research has maximum impact and contributes to change
