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Short abstract:

Results are presented from 3 research projects, integrating gender respectively intersectionality. An international biodiversity project, a study about the potential of including gender in the AI-research of an Austrian technology organisation, and a gender-sensitive prosthesis design project.

Long abstract:

For decades, Europe promoted gender mainstreaming and gender-inclusive research projects. In 2021 the members states of the European Union (EU) endorsed the „Ljubljana Declaration on Gender Equality in Research and Innovation”, which emphasizes the importance of gender equality in science and technology organisations (“gender equality plans”), and also in research itself (“gender-responsive innovation”). In the last years funding calls of the EU also asked to include “intersectionality approaches”.

I am currently working as a feminist STS scholar in three different participatory research projects to integrate gender and diversity, respectively intersectionality into concrete fields of research and innovation. One is an EU funded project, where intersectionality is asked to be integrated in biodiversity case studies within a large international transdisciplinary consortium. The second is a study within an Austrian technology research organisation to research the potential of gender and diversity as topics within AI-related research and innovation projects. And the third is PROTEA, a prosthesis innovation project, which received funding to include gender-sensitive technology design.

I will present experiences and challenges from all three studies, using interview data, quantitative and qualitative content analysis from reports and documents, team reflections and participatory observations from knowledge co-creation activities.

One result is that intersectionality is often mixed up with diversity or seen as a mere cross-categorial approach, leaving out the underlying feminist and political dimension of structural discrimination. My paper discusses further results and recommendations to include intersectionality in the context of responsible research, including ethical AI and food justice.