DOST-NCR Poised to Craft Gender-Inclusive Science Programs
To strengthen its campaign of promoting Science Beyond Borders, technical and administrative personnel from the Department of Science and Technology- NCR (DOST-NCR) recently underwent a training workshop titled “Empowering Gender-Smart Science & Innovation Services,” jointly organized with Miriam College (MC)-Women and Gender Institute (WAGI) held at Miriam MC Environmental Studies Institute (ESI).
With the world increasingly getting “smaller” through advances in computing, transportation, and communications, governments and institutions are gradually but surely adapting their programs and projects to include diversity in populations. This is especially true in science, technology and innovation (STI) where the fruits of STI need to benefit all sectors of society.
The concept of diversity is anchored on acceptance and respect, of recognizing that everyone is different, and that each of us has our unique strengths that can be harnessed to be productive members of the community. Hence, it is imperative for DOST-NCR to make its programs more inclusive and responsive to the needs of all people, regardless of gender, ability, or background
Two resource persons from the MC-WAGI, Dr. Melanie Reyes and Prof. Pacita Fortin, led the participants to new perspectives on diversity and gender sensitivity through their presentations on “Gender Perspectives and Mindsets” and “Gender-Responsive Project and Program Management,” respectively.
Dr. Reyes shared the challenges that women often face in business and in science. She stressed on the importance of creating equal access for everyone, as it is not just women who may be left out from enabling opportunities. Prof. Fortin explained that differing gender roles, expectations and values placed on men and women result in disparities in rights and entitlements; access to and control over resources, decision making at the household, community and national levels, income and poverty levels, and the experience of stigma and discrimination.
The following sectors have been specifically identified to be at risk of being excluded: women and girls, people with little or no education, older persons, people living with HIV/AIDS, people with disabilities, the displaced, ethnic minorities, those who live in very remote areas, and child headed households.
A Call for Change
Through the years, the DOST has been undertaking initiatives to level the playing field through STI- from developing women-accessible technologies to increased scholarship, training, and employment opportunities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In DOST, some of the programs and projects that address diversity include the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), where a sizable number of program adoptors in NCR are women-led companies; the Women-Helping-Women: Innovating Social Enterprises (WHWise) Program, which provides comprehensive support and guidance to women-led social entrepreneurs; Community Empowerment through Science and Technology (CEST) Program, which provides technical interventions to empower underserved communities; Grassroots Innovation for Inclusive Development (GRIND) Program, which likewise empowers marginalized communities by supporting and strengthening existing grassroots innovations (GIs); the Innovation for Filipinos Working Distantly from the Philippines or the iFWD PH Program, which helps OFWs who were repatriated or forced to come back home by providing them with opportunities to move forward by establishing technology-based enterprises; and livelihood training programs in collaboration with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) for Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) to prepare them for their eventual reintegration into society.
The success of programs and projects also depends on the people implementing them. Accordingly, Dr. Fortin guided the participants on how to make programs more gender-inclusive, from planning to implementation, up to monitoring and evaluation.
This starts with being gender aware, which means examining and addressing gender considerations and adopting an approach along the gender integration continuum. The stages of this continuum may be gender-blind, where projects do not consider gender at all; gender-sensitive, where gender is considered in the project rationale and addressed in methodology, but does not extend to analysis/action; gender-responsive, where gender is considered in the rationale, design, methodology, and analysis of the project, and used to inform implementation; and gender-transformative, which examines, analyzes, and builds evidence base to inform practical and structural change, based on differentiated experiences of women and men. We aim to be gender-transformative in all of our initiatives.
In the group workshop that followed the lectures, the participants applied what they have learned to their respective assignments in the office, since each unit contributes to the success or failure of every one of the agency’s initiatives.
The process of fully embracing and applying gender sensitivity in project and program implementation is a dynamic and evolving journey, in as much as social norms in the country and in the world are constantly changing. This training workshop is but the latest step in DOST-NCR’s continuing efforts to ensure that no one will be left behind, and that all sectors will be represented in accessing opportunities and problem-solving solutions through science, technology, and innovation.
By: Divine Joy Niala and Pinky Foz Marcelo, DOST-NCR Staff
