Supporting organizational change for GEI: The missing link in research impact?

We know that research can change the world. But can it change the organizations that produce it?  

To explore this question, IDRC conducted Sparking Change, an exploratory study examining how organizations embed gender equality and inclusion (GEI) into their structures and ways of working, and what role IDRC as a funding partner has played in this change. 

The study found that meaningful and lasting change occurs when GEI becomes embedded in organizational culture, systems and leadership priorities — and that funders can help this change take root and endure.  

What are the links between GEI, high-quality research and who produces it?

Far from being an add-on, understanding and addressing structural drivers of inequalities, including gender inequalities, is at the heart of high-quality research for development. Organizations are better positioned to produce relevant, responsive and impactful research for development when they integrate diverse perspectives into decision-making, systematically consider structural drivers of inequality and hold themselves accountable to their interest holders. 

Evidence shows that supporting institutions to become more equitable and inclusive can translate into positive impact in terms of policy influence and that the effect of these transformations can ripple through their wider research ecosystems.  

But for organizations to embed GEI in their day-to-day work, another journey unfolds. And funders can be pivotal partners along the way. 

What did we learn?

Through interviews with representatives from ten research partner organizations across regions where IDRC works, the Sparking Change study revealed important insights for funders.  

Notably, GEI-related changes can be triggered by a variety of factors, but to take root, they must become embedded in the structure and culture of an organization and be translated into organizational systems, planning processes and accountability mechanisms.  

Change is less likely to stick when it is dependent on individual champions or in timebound projects.   

Nour El Arnaout, associate director at the Global Health Institute (GHI) at the American University of Beirut, describes how her team’s experience applying a strong gender and inclusion lens in a climate change project inspired deeper institutional changes.  

“[Women] would start opening up and reflecting on their journey as women”, reflects Nour regarding changes in hiring and access to leadership opportunities.  

Eventually, as Nour describes, “[GEI] became part of our identity as an institution”. This change can improve research and lead to better impacts. For Nour, it’s clear: “the more awareness at the level of the institution, the more gender sensitive the management becomes, and the more GEI focused the projects are”.  

While requirements from funders like IDRC helped trigger a deeper integration of GEI into research processes, spaces for learning and dialogue further enabled the team’s experiences to influence organizational culture and norms. Also essential to this process were staff who championed change, and senior leaders who were highly engaged and committed to GEI.  

Funders can support conditions for lasting GEI change

The study demonstrated that funders can do more than simply resource change. They can help create the conditions for research partners to turn aspirations into enduring practices by: 

• Prompting organizations to consider deepening their engagement with GEI, including by adopting a broader and more intersectional approach to inclusion.  
• Providing technical accompaniment to help staff use GEI tools and approaches more effectively. Time and resources can be built into a project for organizations to adapt GEI tools to local realities. Flexible funding can help organizations deepen changes that outlive a project cycle, such as embedding GEI into monitoring, evaluation and learning, human resources and strategic planning. 
• Creating, supporting and convening learning space that bring research organizations together to exchange and generate new ideas, support mutual accountability and nurture networks that can outlast a single project.  
•  Continuously signalling that GEI is essential to high-quality research, development and policy work, through funding calls, strategic plans and communications. 

Digging deeper into the change process

While promising lessons are emerging, further research is needed to better understand how funders can most effectively support organizations to embed lasting GEI change. 

Some questions for future research include: 

• How does GEI-related organizational change influence the quality and impact of research? 
• What benefits do organizations experience when they make GEI a core part of how they work? What are the impacts on staff well-being and retention, ability to mobilize funding, organizational performance, or reputation and credibility? 
• What challenges do organizations face when starting, deepening and sustaining organizational change related to GEI? 

Research can influence policies, systems and lives. The next frontier is understanding how best to support the organizations producing that research to become more equitable, inclusive, and effective agents of change themselves. 

For more information, please read the full set of Sparking Change case studies. 

Contributors: Evelyn Baraké, Program Officer, IDRC and Jessica Cadesky, Gender Equality and Inclusion Advisor, IDRC