Reflections on the Webinar “Advancing discussions on gender and innovation within AfricaLics”

Authors: Dr. Ann Kingiri, Mourine Chepkemoi and Maria Martina Marchesotti

Introduction

The webinar “Advancing discussions on gender and innovation within AfricaLics” was held on 9th December 2020. It reflected on the topic of gender and innovation (GAI) and how a holistic approach to research in GAI is important for enhanced inclusive innovation and economic growth. The GAI is one of the main thematic areas within AfricaLics. Additionally, AfricaLics has been strategic in its capacity building activities towards ensuring an increased number of female researchers in the field of innovation and development (I &D). The webinar was inspired by the fact that for increased inclusivity and economic development, including transformational change, a systemic and well-considered approach to gender and innovation is critical. Incorporating women’s and gender experiences into innovation research is more than just a number-crunching exercise. Alternatively, it’s about strengthening gender learning and, as a result, reconfiguring existing systems to ensure gender equality. It also recognizes that all stakeholders must collaborate to shape the research agenda and formulate evidence-based policies and strategies to mitigate the negative consequences of gender exclusion and to promote long-term growth and change. This blog focuses on presentations and discussions from this AfricaLics webinar that aimed at advancing debates on gender and innovation within and outside AfricaLics.

Speakers

The invited key speakers were:

  1. Susan Cozzens: Professor Emeritus in the school of public policy, Georgia Tech, USA and AfricaLics Scientific Board member.
  2. Pamela Mreji: AfricaLics PhD Visiting Fellow Alumni/Post Doc with Trilateral Research Chair, Transformative Innovation, the 4th Industrial Revolution and Sustainable Development programme, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Currently a lecturer at the Technical University of Kenya.
  3. Ann Kingiri: Director, Science Technology Innovation Knowledge Society (STIKS) programme at the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) and AfricaLics Secretariat.
  4. Ayinde Opeyemi: Head department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, University of Ilorin, Nigeria; and AfricaLics Scientific Board member.

Why Gender and Innovation?

In her introductory remarks, Dr. Ann Kingiri noted that gender issues in development debates are not new, with publications dating back to the 1970s (Women in Economic Development by Ester Boserup). Discussions have been evolving over the years from Women in Development (WID); Women and Development (WAD) to Gender and Development (GAD), and in the recent past, Gender and Innovation (GAI). Gender issues in innovation have primarily been interrogated from sectoral and organizational perspectives especially in energy, agriculture, health and education sectors amongst others. Gender is becoming increasingly relevant as a source of knowledge because gender and innovation research covers far more than the role of women, men, and other social classes in the innovation process. However, gender analysis often overlooks the importance of innovation, which calls for rethinking Africa’s conceptual and theoretical perspective.

Dr Kingiri further updated about AfricaLics research agenda within gender and Innovation since the launch of AfricaLics in 2012. She noted that this thematic area has expanded over the years, paying more attention to gender, youth and persons with disabilities (PWDs). Within the AfricaLics research capacity building (RCB) activities, the participation of female scholars in various events has continually increased. She concluded by adding that AfricaLics will deliberately continue supporting increased focus on gender in innovation and development (I&D) field through the various activities pursued within the Network.

STI policy and Gender Inequalities by Prof. Susan Cozzens

Prof. Cozzens in her intervention argued how inequalities in STI regulation, technology, and developments are all linked to global inequalities. Over time, new technologies and inequality have widened the void. STI has moved this issue even further in the global north, where policies play a role. She noted that different mechanisms must be applied to minimize inequality. She added that inequalities have been divided into two categories: vertical (rich/poor) and horizontal (between culturally defined groups like gender, religion etc) in the STI policy arena.

Prof. Cozzens highlighted some of the tools that have been used in STI policies to reduce inequalities. These include a) Inclusive innovations: frugal innovation which look at how the innovation is achieved, grassroot focuses on who is being involved in the innovation and Pro-poor which looks at whom the innovation is directed to and, b) STI policy approaches: pro-poor aimed at the needs of poor households, egalitarian which looks at reduced horizontal inequalities, and equalizing which reshapes the economy. She further added that in the last ten years, the informal sector in Africa, as well as collaboration between countries, has received increased attention in the STI. Active feminists have done a lot of work in the regulatory sphere in technology evaluation, including artificial intelligence (AI) and gender biases, in the north, but not so much in Africa, making it a possible research opportunity. Prof. Cozzens noted that there are many women working in the STI, but they are not known. This is because there are specific challenges that women face, and they should be addressed through appropriate research. With respect to innovation, her emphasis was to know if there are conditions for bottom-up innovations as well as risks involved in the regulatory arena, and if an Africa-specific gender lens used is necessary.

Gender and capabilities building for transformative innovation in the 4th industrial revolution in Africa by Dr. Pamela Mreji

Dr Mreji explained that her research is focusing on gender and capability building for transformative innovation within the 4th industrial revolution (4IR) in Africa. Her preliminary findings based on literature review so far indicates that there is a tremendous increase of women entrepreneurs and that the 4IR presents both challenges and opportunities. Transformative innovation is disruptive and technological in nature. Further, women are traditionally marginalized in the STEM careers and tend to start their businesses with fewer networks. In addition, the entrenched systems of norm, attitudes and beliefs relegate women to the lower ranks of power relation in innovation processes and entrepreneurship. Transformative innovation although gender neutral can enhance increased participation for women, with different impacts and can be gender transformative if the social constructed norms are addressed. Women and the 4IR represents both opportunities and challenges, including lack of adequate skills and resources like finance and other capabilities arising within this sector. Dr. Mreji’s research adopts a national innovation systems approach, focusing on the firms’ level as well as the individual entrepreneurs. She highlighted the following as some recommendations from her study:

  • There is need for an engendered conducive business environment for innovations.
  • Change the narrative on existing cultural norms, attitudes, belief systems and power relations to enable more women access innovations and participate in innovation processes.
  • Gender promoting policies that include innovation partnerships, collaborations that include academia, civil society and private sector, financial solutions targeting women entrepreneurs and new ways to deliver services.
  • Co-identify, prototype, pilot and develop innovative projects that can accelerate gender equality, provide technical advice, develop tools and methodologies to capture and share their experiences.

Gender and innovation research in Nigeria by Dr. Ayinde Opeyemi

Dr. Ayinde noted that gender dynamics are important to how innovation and sustainability emerge, and there are increasing efforts to recognize and adapt to the various roles that women, men, and youth play in innovation. To this end, there is increasing sentiment of women and youth’s contribution around the world. Further, biological and socio-cultural definition of gender concept in innovation is paramount. She informed that in Nigeria there are a good number of scholars who are working on gender related research to tackle the gender gaps. This research relates to the following topics: innovation capabilities of women enterprise in informal setting; women entrepreneurs and innovation; women asset ownership and technological innovation; gender inclusive in enhancing innovation sustainability in start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs); building resilience among west African women smallholders; and closing gender gaps through innovation and learning.

Dr Ayinde emphasized that there is need to get the research questions right in order to enhance quality gender analysis. The questions should interrogate the gender-based roles and responsibilities; access and control of resources and related gender influencing factors. She noted that there is a lot going on in the gender and innovation related research. Hence, there is need to think of how to make the research output visible since there are many interesting projects going on.

Overall discussion points for further reflection

  1. Metrics and measurements: What indicators do we use to measure gender in Africa’s innovation? Gender content in innovation becomes difficult to quantify if innovation is measured at the firm level whereas gender is measured at the individual level. In responding to this issue, the discussants acknowledged that this is a narrow viewpoint. For instance, the new technologies introduced do not really capture gender specific features in relation to technologies being developed and the users, while other studies ignore embedded gender dynamics. There was a consensus that it is necessary to address engendered methodological approaches even if STI indicators are currently being created. In terms of gender targets, lessons from other industries have been used to guide the respective sectors’ gender research. Participants were also encouraged to check on the SDGs measures because they can be linked to a variety of fields.
  2. More women should engage in gender and innovation research. This is because with more women engaged, there is a likelihood of research becoming gender sensitive, deviating from gender neutral perspectives.
  3. Research focus. There has been analyses of publication data focusing on ‘pro-poor’ research, but this should develop further to interrogate ‘pro-women’ research and related indicators. Discussions should be advanced on whether the solution is an “engendered innovation system” or “innovation for inclusion and transformative change”?
  4. Research visibility. There is a lot going on in the gender and innovation related research. There is therefore need to think about how to make the research output visible since there are many interesting gender and innovation related projects going on. Most research in Africa might not be published in the international journals and efforts should be made to increase submission of ongoing research to relevant innovation and development journals.
  5. The need for capacity building. Researchers lack the capacity to engender research processes including research questions. This necessitates capacity building beginning with the conceptualization of research questions and requisite articulation of the same in the research process. Building capacity of women in gender and innovation could also be solved through a collaboration with local higher education institutions and subsequent plans to include scaling up of capacity building efforts.
  6. Transformative innovation for gender inclusivity: Transformative innovation has the potential to enhance opportunities for women and providing visibility in the innovation process. This calls for gender and inclusive policies that are well formulated to include women at all levels of innovation as well as build requisite capabilities. These efforts should be strategic, while practical gender needs should inform discussions. The starting point should be the already identified gender related gaps and being intentional in addressing the gaps.

Conclusion

The field of research has moved from women in research to broader definitions of gender and innovation, with initial developments around WID, WAD to GAI and more on inclusion issues. This notwithstanding, there is need for a comprehensive innovation framework that spans innovation, manufacturing, and value chain design. AfricaLics is currently putting together a research compendium and will be delighted to showcase what is going on within a wide range of research outputs. Collaborations and joint research are being encouraged as these widen the access to greater exposure.

AfricaLics is keen on collating ongoing research and undertaking a systematic review on the topic and therefore continued discussions are encouraged. AfricaLics might further consider a special issue on the gender and innovation topic to bring out the relevant research outputs and increase related visibility. Further, the discussion in the meeting will inform AfricaLics next steps with regards to gender and innovation research agenda moving forward.

Reflections on the Webinar “Advancing discussions on gender and innovation within AfricaLics”
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