Irish Research Council Gender Strategy & Action Plan 2013 - 2020

Due to under-representation by gender, Ireland, like other countries, is currently underutilising a significant population of highly talented researchers who could be vital assets in maximising collective research intelligence and optimising creativity and innovation potential. Studies have demonstrated that collective intelligence increases when there is a balance with neither women nor men in the majority.
There is also a gender dimension to the definition of research projects. While there are research projects in which sex and/or gender may not be relevant in terms of the research content, it is well established that, where relevant, not integrating sex and gender analysis into the design, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of the research can lead to poor results and missed opportunities.
The Irish Research Council Gender Strategy and Action Plan address these two main issues in regard to gender in research.
The strategy and action plan include both sexes, and aims to provide equal outcomes to both men and women so that Ireland can attract and retain the most talented, creative and innovative researchers thereby maximising its collective research intelligence.
The Council will also only fund excellent research, and excellent research fully considers whether a potential sex and/or gender dimension is relevant to the research content and fully integrates sex/gender analysis where relevant, thereby ensuring maximum impact, societal benefit and optimising innovation in Irish research.
There has already been much work focusing on these issues internationally, with the European context of most relevance to Ireland. The Irish Research Council will be informed by international best practice and seek to contribute to advancing international best practice in this regard.