Research with a feminist perspective is a tool for social change that addresses systemic issues in social systems. Adopting a horizontal or bottom-up approach to the research process ensures every participant is enabled, if not empowered, to provide their insights and inputs.

Feminist research can contribute to empowering women and non-binary people in the field of research, whilst simultaneously increasing their visibility and recognition in and by society. Ultimately, this can be an important step towards transforming society as a whole.

The institutions we work in however, still need to make steps towards developing feminism internally before being able to facilitate this research perspective. This including tackling obstacles and challenges around expectations and communication, tools and ways of working.

In order to share experience and learn from each other, the Swift project organised a webinar in December 2024 to facilitate a conversation to discuss the challenges that are encountered in societal and eco-social research. Participants were asked to discuss their understanding of conducting research with a gender or feminist lens and how they apply it.

Here are some of the key takeaways: 

  • Hierarchal blocks

The discussion highlighted the difficulties of working with a gendered/feminist approach while being embedded in hierarchal and rigid institutions such as the EU and Universities. There’s a risk of being inadvertently extractive when gathering information from participants and colleagues. But there are also gains to be made when women are shown how to express the value of their work and have it recognised on a broader scale.

  • Logistical issues

It can be challenging to work with people across multiple languages, and multiple disciplines. It can cause break downs in communication, and lead to additional costs for translation requirements, in order for the information to land and have maximum impact.

  • Addressing the needs of stakeholders

The challenge to address the needs and expectations of stakeholders compared to the time, budget and scope of the project was discussed during the webinar, as well as the ability to translate project work into tangible actions that benefit society.

Conclusion

Research with a feminist perspective was seen as a tool for social change that is able to address complex, and systemic problems in social systems, through a horizontal or bottom-up approach to ensure all participants can provide their input equally.

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Note for reference: the webinar ‘Integrating a feminist perspective in research projects’, was held on 12.12.24 held with 27 participants. The webinar brought together 7 European projects to engage, discuss and share skills and info with each other.