The consideration of gender dimensions, understood as the biological, social and cultural dimensions of gender, in medical research improves the quality, relevance, robustness and reproducibility of scientific studies (Heidari et al. 2016). In medicine and health research, the consideration of gender aspects in the research process can also be relevant to life. The "gender and diversity data gap "[1] leads to less high-quality and evidence-based care, especially for women and gender-diverse people(Regensteiner et al. 2025; Haupt et al. 2024), as well as Black people, Indigenous people and POC (People of Color)(Mateo and Williams 2021).
For submissions to renowned journals such as Nature, The Lancet and Cell, but also for applications to large third-party funding bodies such as the DFG, the BMFTR or the EU, it is therefore necessary to take gender and diversity dimensions into account in order to increase the quality of the research content and its chances of publication and funding.
- The DFG recommendations on gender and diversity dimensions in research emphasize the importance of sex, gender and diversity aspects in scientific projects and project proposals. Researchers are encouraged to systematically integrate these dimensions into their questions, methods and analyses in order to improve the scientific quality and relevance of their work. Further information can be found in the DFG guidelines and the checklist on therelevance of gender dimensions in one's own research.
- The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR ) emphasizes the importance of the gender dimension in research questions and projects and has launched the "Gender Aspects in Focus" (GiB) guideline. This initiative aims to systematically anchor gender-sensitive approaches in the entire research process and in all subject areas in order to increase the quality and relevance of scientific results. The guidelines and further information can be found on the BMFTR website and on the homepage of the GiB project at the University of Cologne.
- The European Commission also attaches great importance to the integration of gender dimensions in medical research and the life sciences. Within the framework of Horizon Europe, the current EU research and innovation program, the consideration of gender aspects is a central requirement in order to promote scientific excellence and equal opportunities(Horizon 2020).
- Federal Ministry of Health: The Federal Ministry of Health also provides a checklist on gender mainstreaming in research and applications.
The article by Aldin et al. provides an overview of the application guidelines for the integration of gender aspects at German funding institutions in the healthcare sector, including foundations(Aldin et al. 2020).
[1] The gender and diversity data gap - or gender and diversity-related data gap - describes the lack of data associated with gender and diversity. They thus describe knowledge gaps that arise due to missing or underrepresented data collection. The gender data gap specifically identifies knowledge gaps related to women and gender-diverse people, while the diversity data gap refers more generally to knowledge gaps related to marginalized and underrepresented groups in data collection, such as Black people, Indigenous people and People of Color (BIPOC), or people with disabilities.
