How to conduct culturally sensitive gender research

Workshop

How to conduct culturally sensitive gender research

Jennifer Bosson, Paweł Jurek, Maria Olsson, Julie Reppen-Brattsti & Natasza
Kosakowska-Berezecka

Conducting gender research across cultural contexts requires methodological rigor, reflexivity, and sensitivity to local meanings, norms, and power structures. This workshop provides a practical and theoretically grounded introduction to culturally sensitive approaches to studying gender. Drawing on cross-cultural psychology and large-scale international research projects, participants will explore how gender norms, identities, and inequalities are shaped by cultural and social contexts.
The workshop will address key challenges, including avoiding ethnocentrism, ensuring conceptual and measurement equivalence, and navigating ethical issues in diverse and potentially vulnerable populations. Participants will be introduced to best practices in survey and experiment design, instrument adaptation across cultures, and the integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Special attention will be given to researching masculinity, gender relations, and identity threat in contexts of social change. Through interactive examples and case studies, participants will gain tools to design and implement culturally informed gender research that is both scientifically robust and socially meaningful.