Gender Impact Metric

The Gender Impact Metric intends to assess the potential gender equality impact that the widespread use of a Technology Applications might imply in the social fabric of communities. The metric was designed to measure the following three main vectors:

• Does the technological footprint produced by this technology positively or negatively impact gender equality?

• Can this technology enhance data monitoring systems to ensure the redistribution of opportunities and resources among all?

• Does this technology tackle unconscious gender bias by alleviating preconceived societal norms and rules?

Each dimension is rated from -2 (High negative impact/ Promotes gender-based disadvantages) to +2 (High positive impact / Advances towards the goal of gender equality) by the techDetector Assessment team. All dimensions are divided into two categories (Resources, for instance, is divided into “Productive and Financial Resources” and “Educational Resources”), and each category contains one question covering the aforementioned three main vectors.

The arithmetic mean of the two questions contained in each category is used as the final dimension score of a category. The Responsive Gender Metric score is calculated using the arithmetic mean of all categories, thus resulting in the final score concerning a dimension.

How Did We Get To It?

Technology does not have the ability to address gender equality directly. However, it can affect —both positively and negatively— a variety of spheres linked to gender matters (e.g. higher access to educational resources). To investigate the dimensions of influence of a determined technology application in gender equality, Envisioning has developed an entire project dedicated to investigating gender bias in technology. This work led up to a few models that colleagues from the GIZ sector validated throughout a series of workshops with our internal team.

How Can You Use It?

• Filter Technology Applications that have a higher potential to impact the gender dimension you're focusing on (e.g. civil liberties);

• Compare the potential impact on gender equality of your favourite Technology Applications;

• Combine the Gender Responsive Metrics with TRL to filter Technology Applications and target the issue of your most interest.

Resources

Along all dimensions of productive resources, women are considerably disadvantaged relative to men, and women are particularly disadvantaged from adequate access to any economic share. This is staggering considering that half of the world's population are women. A trustworthy measure to highlight all gender disparities in productive, financial, and educational resources is mandatory to act in the benefit of a sex-disaggregated data source.

Productive and Financial Resources

Does the footprint produced by this technology impact women’s economic potential?

Outputs Examples

• Improves the legal recognition of land use and ownership rights.

• Boosts access to financial services (e.g. credit, insurance).

• Monitoring of both distribution and usage of production/financial tools and resources among women.

Educational Resources

Does this technology provide free and equal access to quality education and training?

Outputs Examples

• Improvement of gender-sensitive learning models through the use of participatory teaching and learning methods at in-service training.

• Raising the overall rate of enrolment (in particular the enrolment rates of girls) and proportion of those who complete their schooling.

• Provide a reliable and consistent monitoring of sex-disaggregated educational data

Health and Wellbeing

Gender based violence and in particular violence against women and girls is widespread and comprises a wide range of acts; From verbal harassment to other forms of emotional or physical abuse. People's dignity, ability to thrive and live a healthy and fulfilling life is undermined by gender-based violence. Protection is not only what is demanded to ensure physical integrity. Sensibilisation, education, and empowerment are equally as essential to decrease gender-based violence incidents and rates. Accordingly, the elimination of gender-based violence or the threat of violence against women and girls are later additions to the list of determinants of women's empowerment.

Current gender disparities in domestic environments are vital for analyzing and understanding differences in access to and control over family resources. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we must ensure that health and wellbeing are places for equality and free from discrimination.

Physical Integrity

Does this technology protect and ensure bodily integrity especially for women-identified, non-binary, and transgender individuals?

Outputs Examples

• Self-empowerment to report a gender-based violent act.

• Implement monitoring and evaluation systems across different types of potential threats especially for women and girls.

• Offers accountability systems to individuals in case of any aggression, abuse or violence.

Equality in the Household

Does this technology impact traditional gender roles in household labor imbalance?

Outputs Examples

• Support decentralised care models to pinpoint responsible actors involved in family planning.

• Implement monitoring and evaluation forms to ensure women-identified, girls, non-binary and transgender individuals safety and autonomy in the private sphere

• Ensure human rights fulfilment in domestic environments.

Civil Liberties

Women are often underrepresented in leadership positions, left without a voice in decision-making and ignored as an electorate. Self-reliance, freedom of choice and to speak and act for oneself with regards to education, marriage, mobility, and economic activity are strictly connected to political participation.

Women-identified, non-binary, and transgender individuals still face limited and unequal access to justice. Ensuring access to justice implies providing access to affordable, accountable, and effective measures to move away from generalities to concrete fair circumstances that recognize the right of agency of those who are experiencing oppression and exploitation.

Voice and Participation

Does this technology impact the voice and participation of individuals in deliberative and decision-making spaces and processes?

Outputs Examples

• Promote women as role models.

• Networking tools for empowering plural political will.

• Efficient in monitoring and measuring the involvement of diverse gender communities in political participation at all levels

Access to justice

Does this technology promote solutions to ensure equal access to justice for all, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity?

Outputs Examples

• Facilitate cooperation between individuals, governments and organizations.

• Automation of algorithms designed to foster gender equality.

• Monitor and measure equity distribution of juridical resources among different social stratum, including transgender, non-binary people

Read more about our other Metrics →