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Open University research has shaped how considerations of gender are factored into economic and social policy nationally and internationally by contributing to the case for Gender Impact Assessment (GIA) of policy on both efficiency and equality grounds. Many governments, international bodies, and civil society organisations now carry out GIAs, and many use, or aspire to use, methodologies developed by OU researchers. OU researchers regularly work on GIAs of UK policy, which has influenced policy making on welfare reform and on care policy. They also contribute to capacity building for GIA in the UK and abroad, and were leading members of an international project that led the World Bank, the IMF, and OECD to address the issue of gender and taxation.
Innovative research into gendered identities at the University of Hull, under the auspices of the Centre for Gender Studies and the Centre for Research into Embodied Subjectivity, led to the design and delivery of new curricula in higher education internationally including the European Union, the US and in Chile, India and Pakistan. Research on gendered identities provides the philosophical core of the curriculum for GEMMA (Erasmus Mundus Master's Degree in Women's and Gender Studies) delivered by a consortium of 7 universities within the AtGender (previously ATHENA) network. The relevant impact has been primarily on education (at an international level and especially in the area of curriculum development and knowledge transfer) and on public discourse. The beneficiaries are academics and students internationally, as well as pressure groups and artists concerned with gender identity. This impact is ongoing (the 7th edition of GEMMA commenced in 2013).
Research on gender inequalities at the University of Manchester (UoM) has informed and shaped the development of employment policies advocated by key national and international bodies — such as the United Nations' International Labour Organization (ILO), the European Commission (EC), Eurofound and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) — in their role as advisors of national governments and regulators. Impacts are twofold. By advancing international comparative analyses of gender inequalities in employment and job quality, EU employment policy has been informed. By analysing gender inequality trends, alongside evolving national policies, the research has successfully steered key debates around both `working-time' and `work-life balance'.
The research conducted by Dr Deborah Dean provided the first reliable benchmark study of how age and gender affects the employment realities of professional performers across Europe. The research has influenced the practices of professional bodies, resulting in trade union organisations changing their codes of practice and introducing new measures designed to address age and gender inequality. The research provided a concrete resource for international performers' unions to use in employer negotiations and contributed to political debate and led to a House of Commons Early Day motion on gender inequality in the arts. It also led to the launch of an online petition receiving over 10,000 public signatures, and triggered the creation and implementation of the EU Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee's Framework of Actions.
Evans' internationally acclaimed research on gender and sexuality in China has had significant impact on critical debate, heightening public awareness of gender as a key marker of social difference and hierarchy, and encouraging diverse professional organisations to address gender in their work on China. Through radio broadcasts, television appearances and web-based media, NGO and government consultancy, gender training workshops and translation, Evans' work has influenced the thinking and practice of representatives of international and Chinese NGOs working on women's gender and sexual rights, and reproductive and sexual health. Prominent amongst the organisations she has worked with is the world's largest state-based women's organization, the All China Women's Federation, and UK non-governmental and legal organisations. In recent years, Hird's research on men and masculinities in China has broadened the reach and significance of this impact through attracting the attention of international and Chinese NGOs, and commercial advertising interests seeking to include men and ideas about masculinity in their work on gender and sexuality rights and representations.
Gender inequality affects workforce effectiveness. Our research has significantly increased awareness of factors which contribute to the paucity of female representation in the public sector. Notably it has shaped the policies and strategies of public sector agencies such the Scottish Government, Leadership Foundation in Higher Education, NHS and educational institutions such as universities and further education colleges. The research provided a platform for implementation of the Gender Equality Duty for the Scottish public sector.
Dr Kate Bedford's work has demonstrated the limits of existing frameworks for addressing gender and sexuality in development policy and has had a significant impact in four main ways. First, it has supported and influenced the work of the major NGOs (including Sexuality Policy Watch, and the Bretton Woods Project/Action Aid) in holding development institutions to account on questions of gender equality. Second, it has had substantial influence on the work of transnational public bodies (including UNRISD), challenging conventional wisdom and stimulating debate among policymakers. Third, it has had considerable impact on how development practitioners are taught, in the UK and beyond. Finally, it has enjoyed a sustained influence in shaping a new area of critical public debate, improving public understanding of sexuality and development and engaging diverse international audiences. In the light of increased global attention to gender and development (evident across several leading international institutions), Bedford's research has stimulated important debate about policy orthodoxy and has directly influenced several campaigns for policy change.
The underrepresentation of women in political life, gender equality in policy making and the relationship between gender representation and gender equality, are considered in parallel within research undertaken at the University of Manchester (UoM). The work has informed Labour Government commitments to promote diversity of representation in local and national government, and more recently has underscored the detrimental impact of the Coalition Government's austerity policies; informing the Opposition Labour Party, contributing to public debate and empowering those most harshly affected. Explicit policy impact can be seen in two domains. Firstly, the `Duty to Promote Democracy', introduced via Statute in 2009. Secondly, following the `Speakers Conference on Parliamentary Representation' (2010), research for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on diversity in Parliament, that continues to inform policy debate.
Over the last seven years Surrey's research on the political representation and working practices of women has had significant influence on public debate about gender equality in Europe. The research has resulted in a number of high level policy and media debates about the position and role of working mothers, for example BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour. The Fabians' women network has also benefited from the work in shaping the network's presentation of key debates on women's rights in the UK.
The Equality Act 2010 (EqA) is the first major reform to equality legislation since the wave of UK equality legislation in the 1970s. The case deals primarily with the two most innovative aspects of the EqA — the Public Sector Equality Duty (s.149) and the Dual Discrimination provisions (s.14), which have formed the basis of Hazel Conley's research. The research has involved significant impacts with notable reach in relation to: (1) the policy and best practices of five local authorities, with other authorities also drawing on these lessons, (2) trade unions' priorities, strategies and representational roles in relation to equality objectives, including prompting 30 equal pay test cases, and (3) public policy in terms of promoting social justice and public debate, and advocating improvements to government policy.