aes19 International Evaluation Conference

Jess MacArthur (ISF-UTS), Naomi Carrard (Institute of Sustainable Futures), Juliet Willetts (Institute of Sustainable Futures)

In the field of evaluation, we are often tasked with untangling the complexity of social change. This is especially the case in the assessment of changes of gender equality in international development programming — both in programmes that explicitly seek to advance gender equality and programmes which may have a wider development agenda.  There is an opportunity to link evaluation theory to the breadth of research disciplines that explore the dynamics of gender equality, “unboxing” innovative ways to evaluate gender-related outcomes. These outcomes incorporate changes in position, power and equality for women, men, boys and girls. They can be foreseen, unforeseen, positive, negative, intended or unintended and can include agency, decision-making, leadership, space, voice, and wellbeing.
 
This presentation will share findings from a systematic literature review of approaches exploring gender equality impacts of international development programming. We analysed approaches with reference to their alignment with research paradigms and their relative focus on different aspects of gender equality. The analysis illustrates how different approaches to gender equality evaluations are able to interrogate different aspects of gender equality. The review also revealed limitations in the breadth of approaches typically applied, with scope to reflect on the value of diversified and intentional approaches leading to transformative change.
 
Although measuring changes in gender equality is a notoriously complex evaluation space, this research highlights the opportunity to strengthen approaches to gender evaluation by bridging theory and practice; drawing on a more diverse set of disciplines as well as current approaches to measuring gender equality.