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. 2021 Nov 18;18(22):12118.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph182212118.

Integrating Sex/Gender into Environmental Health Research: Development of a Conceptual Framework

Gabriele Bolte  1   2 , Katharina Jacke  3 , Katrin Groth  4 , Ute Kraus  5 , Lisa Dandolo  1   2 , Lotta Fiedel  3 , Malgorzata Debiak  4 , Marike Kolossa-Gehring  4 , Alexandra Schneider  5 , Kerstin Palm  3
Affiliations

Integrating Sex/Gender into Environmental Health Research: Development of a Conceptual Framework

Gabriele Bolte et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

There is a growing awareness about the need to comprehensively integrate sex and gender into health research in order to enhance the validity and significance of research results. An in-depth consideration of differential exposures and vulnerability is lacking, especially within environmental risk assessment. Thus, the interdisciplinary team of the collaborative research project INGER (integrating gender into environmental health research) aimed to develop a multidimensional sex/gender concept as a theoretically grounded starting point for the operationalization of sex and gender in quantitative (environmental) health research. The iterative development process was based on gender theoretical and health science approaches and was inspired by previously published concepts or models of sex- and gender-related dimensions. The INGER sex/gender concept fulfills the four theoretically established prerequisites for comprehensively investigating sex and gender aspects in population health research: multidimensionality, variety, embodiment, and intersectionality. The theoretical foundation of INGER's multidimensional sex/gender concept will be laid out, as well as recent sex/gender conceptualization developments in health sciences. In conclusion, by building upon the latest state of research of several disciplines, the conceptual framework will significantly contribute to integrating gender theoretical concepts into (environmental) health research, improving the validity of research and, thus, supporting the promotion of health equity in the long term.

Keywords: concept; embodiment; environment; framework; gender; health equity; inequality; intersectionality; model; sex; social determinants.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The INGER multidimensional sex/gender concept with its intersectional perspective.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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