Annex of Gender-Related Terms

These definitions are provided to enable the reader to understand the meaning of the gender terminologies used in the Best Practices Framework. These definitions are derived from various sources such as United Nations (UN) agencies, USAID, and other international organizations.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION: Actions, policies, and procedures undertaken in recruiting, hiring, promotions and all other personnel actions that are designed to achieve equal employment opportunity and eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. Affirmative action requires (1) thorough, systematic efforts to prevent discrimination from occurring or to detect and eliminate it as promptly as possible and (2) recruitment and outreach measures. (Source: The Human Resources Team, Glossary of Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Terms)

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION BACKLASH: Backlash is a negative reaction to social or political change. [Can be] driven by the perception that focus on gender equality initiatives and the promotion of women to leadership roles is unfair and not meritocratic. (Source: Male Champions of Change, Backlash & Buy-In) 

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS: Discrimination against girls and women means directly or indirectly treating girls and women differently from boys and men in a way which prevents them from enjoying their rights. Discrimination can be direct or indirect. Direct discrimination against girls and women is easier to recognize as the discrimination is quite obvious. For example, in some countries, women cannot legally own property; they are forbidden by law to take certain jobs; or the customs of a community may not permit girls to pursue higher education. Indirect discrimination against girls and women can be difficult to recognize. It refers to situations that may appear to be unbiased but result in unequal treatment of girls and women. For example, a job for a police officer may have minimum height and weight criteria that women may find difficult to fulfill. As a result, women may be unable to become police officers. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCESSIBILITY (DEIA): Diversity refers to the practice of including the many communities, identities, races, ethnicities, backgrounds, abilities, cultures, and beliefs of people, including underserved communities. Equity means the consistent and systematic fair, just, and impartial treatment of all individuals, including individuals who belong to underserved communities that have been denied such treatment. Inclusion means the recognition, appreciation, and use of the talents and skills of employees of all backgrounds. Accessibility refers to providing accommodations and modifications to ensure equal access for persons with disabilities (Source: White House 2021).

DIVERSITY HIRING: Hiring based on merit with special care taken to ensure procedures are free from biases related to a candidate’s age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other personal characteristics that are unrelated to their job performance. (Source: Ideal, Diversity Hiring)

DIVERSITY HIRING AUDIT: An audit used to assess the diversity of the hiring process and to identify any potential bottlenecks and discrepancies (e.g., Is it a top-of-the-funnel issue? Or is it a leaking-pipeline issue? See source). (Source: Ideal, Diversity Hiring)

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO): A policy statement that prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, pregnancy, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. (Source: HR.com, Glossary of Human Resources (HR) and Employee Benefit Terms)

GENDER: Refers to a socially constructed set of roles, norms, rights, responsibilities, entitlements, expectations, and behaviors associated with women, men, and individuals of diverse gender identities, as well as the relationships between and among them. These social definitions differ among and within cultures, change over time, and often intersect with other factors such as age, class, disability, ethnicity, race, religion, and sexual orientation. All individuals are subject to these expectations and sanctions, including transgender and gender non-binary individuals. The term gender should not be used interchangeably with women, sex, or gender identity. (Source: USAID Collective Action to Reduce Gender-Based Violence (CARE-GBV) Foundational Elements for Gender-Based Violence Programming in Development Glossary) 

GENDER ANALYSIS: A critical examination of how differences in gender roles, activities, needs, opportunities, and rights/entitlements affect men, women, girls and boys in certain situations or contexts. Gender analysis examines the relationships between females and males and their access to and control of resources and the constraints they face relative to each other. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary, USAID Gender Analyses Portal)

GENDER AUDIT: A tool to promote organizational learning at the individual, work unit and organizational levels on how to practically and effectively mainstream gender. It considers whether internal practices and related support systems for gender mainstreaming are effective and reinforce each other and whether they are being followed. It establishes a baseline; identifies critical gaps and challenges; and recommends ways of addressing them, suggesting improvements and innovations. It monitors and assesses the relative progress made in gender mainstreaming and helps to build organizational ownership for gender equality initiatives and sharpens organizational learning on gender. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

GENDER AWARENESS RAISING: Process that aims at showing how existing values and norms influence our picture of reality, perpetuate stereotypes and support mechanisms (re)producing inequality. (Source: European Institute for Gender Equality, Glossary & Thesaurus)

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (GBV): Any harmful threat or act directed at an individual or group based on actual or perceived sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sex characteristics, sexual orientation, and/or lack of adherence to varying socially constructed norms around masculinity and femininity. Although individuals of all gender identities may experience gender-based violence, women, girls, and gender non-conforming individuals face a disproportionate risk of gender-based violence across every context due to their unequal status in society. Gender-based violence is characterized by the use or threat of physical, psychological, sexual, economic, legal, political, social, and other forms of control, coercion, and/or violence. It can occur across the life course and is perpetrated by a diverse array of actors, including intimate partners; family members; persons in positions of power, authority, or trust; friends; acquaintances; or strangers. (Source: United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence Globally: 2022 Update).

GENDER BIAS: Making decisions based on gender that result in favoring one gender over the other which often results in contexts that are favoring men and/or boys over women and/or girls. (Source: UNICEF, Glossary of Terms and Concepts)

GENDER BLINDNESS: Failure to recognize that the roles and responsibilities of men/boys and women/girls are assigned to them in specific social, cultural, economic, and political contexts and backgrounds. Projects, programs, policies, and attitudes which are gender blind do not consider these different roles and diverse needs. They maintain the status quo and will not help transform the unequal structure of gender relations. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

GENDER EQUALITY: Equal enjoyment of human rights, socially valued goods, opportunities, and resources by all individuals independent of a person’s sex or gender identity. Gender equality means more than parity in numbers or laws on the books; it means equal access and freedoms for all people and that rights, responsibilities, and opportunities will not depend on an individual’s sex assigned at birth or their gender identity. Gender equality is fundamental in human development for all women and girls, men and boys, and individuals of other gender identities. It is both a human rights issue and a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable development. (Source: USAID CARE-GBV Foundational Elements for Gender-Based Violence Programming in Development Glossary)

GENDER EQUITY: The process of reaching equality. The process of being fair to women and men, boys and girls. To ensure fairness, equity measures or interventions must be taken to compensate for cumulative economic, social, and political disadvantages that prevent women and men, boys and girls from operating on a level playing field. (Source: Interagency Gender Working Group, Gender-related Terms and Definitions)

GENDER EXPRESSION: How a person presents their gender identity outwardly, through acts, dress, behavior, voice, or other perceived characteristics. Gender expression can be described variously as feminine, masculine, both, or neither. Pronouns are also part of how people express and articulate gender identity. 

GENDER GAP: Any disparity between women and men’s condition or position in society. It is often used to refer to a difference in average earnings between women and men, e.g., “gender pay gap.” However, gender gaps can be found in many areas, such as the four pillars that the World Economic Forum uses to calculate its Gender Gap Index, namely: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

GENDER IDENTITY: A person’s deeply held sense of self. It is how individuals perceive themselves and what they call themselves. This can include identifying as woman or man, or as a gender diverse individual along the spectrum of gender identity and gender expression. While gender is a social construct ascribed to individuals, gender identity is self-determined. A person’s gender identity may or may not align with their biological sex assigned at birth. When someone’s sex assigned at birth aligns with their gender identity, the person is cisgender. When someone’s sex assigned at birth does not align with their gender identity, the person may identify as a transgender man, transgender woman, nonbinary, or another identity (e.g., gender nonconforming, agender, etc.).

GENDER MAINSTREAMING: Process of incorporating a gender perspective into organizational policies, strategies, and administrative functions, as well as into the institutional culture of an organization. This process at the organizational level ideally results in meaningful gender integration. (Source: Interagency Gender Working Group, Gender-related Terms and Definitions) The primary objective behind gender mainstreaming is to design and implement development projects, programs, and policies that are gender-neutral, gender sensitive, and gender positive/ transformative. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

GENDER NEUTRAL: Policy, program or situation that has no differential positive or negative impact in terms of gender relations or equality between women and men. (Source: European Institute for Gender Equality, Glossary & Thesaurus). Do not reinforce existing gender inequalities. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

GENDER NORMS:A gender norm is a type of social norm. Among the characteristics of gender norms is the strong role of power in maintaining norms that normalize inequality between women, men, and gender-nonconforming people (Source: USAID 2021, Kedia and Verma 2019).

GENDER PARITY: Term for equal representation of women and men in a given area, for example, gender parity in organizational leadership or higher education. Working toward gender parity (equal representation) is a key part of achieving gender equality, and one of the twin strategies, alongside gender mainstreaming. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

GENDER PAY GAP: Measurable indicator of inequality and it captures the difference in pay between men and women. Most governments have legislated to guarantee equality of treatment between men and women in remuneration. The ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100) is one of the most highly ratified conventions. Yet, the gender pay gap persists and the World Economic Forum estimates it will take 202 years to close the global gender pay gap, based on the trend observed over the past 12 years. (Source: International Labour Organization, Understanding the Gender Pay Gap)

GENDER PERSPECTIVE / “GENDER LENS”: Focus that brings a framework of analysis to assess how women and men affect and are affected differently by policies, programs, projects and activities. It enables recognition that relationships between women and men can vary depending on the context. A gender perspective considers gender roles, social and economic relationships and needs, access to resources, and other constraints and opportunities imposed by society or culture, age, religion, and/or ethnicity on both women and men. (Source: UN Women & United Nations Global Compact, Women’s Empowerment Principles)

GENDER-RESPONSIVE BUDGETING: The goal of gender-responsive budgeting (GRB) initiatives is to promote equality between women and men by influencing the budgeting process. Collectively, GRB initiatives seek to raise awareness of the effects that budgets have on women and men and hold governments [and companies] accountable for their commitments to gender equality. GRB is budgeting that incorporates a gender equality perspective into the budgeting process and the policies that underpin it promote equality between women and men. (Source: International Labour Organization, Overview of Gender-responsive Budget Initiatives) 

GENDER SENSITIVE: Policies and programs that consider the particularities pertaining to the lives of both women and men, while aiming to eliminate inequalities and promote gender equality, including an equal distribution of resources, therefore addressing and taking into account the gender dimension. (Source: European Institute for Gender Equality, Glossary & Thesaurus). Attempts to redress existing gender inequalities. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

GENDER-SENSITIVE INDICATOR:An indicator is a pointer. It can be a measurement, a number, a fact, an opinion, or a perception that focuses on a specific condition or situation, and measures changes in that condition or situation over time. The difference between an indicator and a statistic is that indicators should involve comparison with a norm. Gender-sensitive indicators measure gender-related changes in society over time; they provide a close look at the results of targeted gender-based initiatives and actions. (Source: UN Women & United Nations Global Compact, Women’s Empowerment Principles)

GENDER STEREOTYPES: Simplistic generalizations about the gender attributes, differences and roles of women and men. Stereotypical characteristics about men are that they are competitive, acquisitive, autonomous, independent, confrontational, concerned about private goods. Parallel stereotypes of women hold that they are cooperative, nurturing, caring, connecting, group-oriented, concerned about public goods. Stereotypes are often used to justify gender discrimination more broadly and can be reflected and reinforced by traditional and modern theories, laws, and institutional practices. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

GLASS CEILING: Metaphor that has often been used to describe invisible barriers (“glass”) through which women can see elite positions, for example in government or the private sector, but cannot reach them (coming up against the invisible “ceiling”). These barriers prevent large numbers of women and ethnic minorities from obtaining and securing the most powerful, prestigious, and highest-paying jobs in the workforce. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary) 

GENDER TRANSFORMATIVE:A gender-transformative approach “seeks to fundamentally transform relations, structures, and systems that sustain and perpetuate gender inequality. This approach requires: (1) critically examining gender roles, norms, power dynamics, and inequalities, (2) recognizing and strengthening positive norms that support gender equality and an enabling environment, and (3) transforming underlying power dynamics, social structures, policies and broadly held social norms that affect women and girls, men and boys, and individuals of other gender identities and perpetuate gender inequalities. This approach recognizes that gender equality cannot be achieved or sustained without an approach that includes all three of these components.” 

INTERSECTIONALITY:The concept of intersectionality recognizes that all individuals have multiple social identities shaping their lived experiences, including but not limited to their place in society, privileges they may or may not enjoy, the level and types of protection from human rights violations, and the impact of complex forms of discrimination. Although intersectionality acknowledges that singular oppressions exist, it identifies those overlapping identities (age, class, disability, gender identity, nationality, race, sex, sexual orientation, etc.) interact with overlapping systems of oppression and/or discrimination and the need to address the impact these have on systemic privilege and access” 

MASCULINITY: Social meaning of manhood, which is constructed and defined socially, historically and politically, rather than being biologically driven. There are many socially constructed definitions for being a man and these can change over time and from place to place. The term relates to perceived notions and ideals about how men should or are expected to behave in a given setting. Masculinities are not just about men; women may perform and produce the meaning and practices of the masculine as well. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary) 

MEN’S ENGAGEMENT: Programmatic approach that involves men and boys: a. as clients and beneficiaries, b. as partners; and c. as agents of change in actively promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment, and the transformation of inequitable definitions of masculinity. Male engagement also includes broader efforts to promote equality with respect to caregiving, fatherhood, and division of labor, and ending gender-based violence. (Source: Interagency Gender Working Group, Gender-related Terms and Definitions)

OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION: Occurs when one demographic group is overrepresented or underrepresented among different kinds of work or different types of jobs. The International Labour Organization states that “sectoral and occupational segregation may be viewed as a cycle: as women and men are confined to certain occupations, stereotypes are strengthened regarding women’s and men’s aspirations, preferences and capabilities. In turn, this affects both the perceptions of employers about women’s and men’s skills and attitudes and the aspirations of individual workers. Thus, women and men are likely to continue pursuing careers in sectors and occupations that are considered “feminine” and “masculine” and are discouraged to do otherwise.” (Source: Washington Center for Equitable Growth, Factsheet & International Labour Organization, Women at Work: Trends 2016) 

PATRIARCHY: Traditional form of organizing society which often lies at the root of gender inequality. According to this kind of social system, men, or what is considered masculine, is accorded more importance than women, or what is considered feminine. Traditionally, societies have been organized in such a way that property, residence, and descent, as well as decision-making regarding most areas of life, have been the domain of men. This is often based on appeals to biological reasoning (women are more naturally suited to be caregivers, for example) and continues to underlie many kinds of gender discrimination. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary) 

SEX: The designation of a person as male, female, or intersex based on a cluster of anatomical and physiological traits known as sex characteristics. Sex characteristics include external genitalia, secondary sex characteristics (e.g., facial hair, distribution of fat tissue, voice pitch), gonads and internal organs, hormones, and chromosomes. At birth, infants are typically assigned a sex based on visual inspection of external genitalia. 

SEX-DISAGGREGATED DATA: Data that are cross classified by sex, presenting information separately for men and women. When data are not disaggregated by sex, it is more difficult to identify real and potential inequalities. Sex-disaggregated data are necessary for effective gender analysis. (Source: UN Women Training Centre, Gender Equality Glossary)

SEXUAL HARASSMENT: Any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, verbal or physical conduct or gestures of a sexual nature, or any other behavior of a sexual nature that might cause offense or humiliation to another. It comprises sexual or sex-based conduct that interferes with an individual’s work performance; creates an intimidating, hostile, or abusive work environment; or affects the terms and conditions of employment. While typically involving a pattern of behavior, it can take the form of a single incident. Additionally, it can encompass sex- and gender-based discrimination, disrespect, and aggression rooted in the abuse of power. Sexual harassment may occur between people of any gender identity (United Nations Secretariat 2008, U.S. Department of State 2019, Berdahl 2007).

SOCIAL INCLUSION: The process of improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of people disadvantaged on the basis of their identity to take part in society. (Source: World Bank, Inclusion Matters)

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: The enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction to other people by sex or gender identity. Common sexual orientations include straight or heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, queer, and questioning. Sexual orientation is separate from gender identity or gender expression. 

TOKENISM: Policy or practice that is symbolic and involves attempting to fulfil one’s obligations with regard to established targets, such as voluntary or mandated gender quotas, with limited efforts or gestures, especially toward minority groups and women, in ways that will not change men-dominated power and/or organizational arrangements. (European Institute for Gender Equality, Glossary & Thesaurus)

UNCONSCIOUS GENDER BIAS: Unintentional and automatic mental associations based on gender, stemming from traditions, norms, values, culture and/or experience. Automatic associations feed into decision-making, enabling a quick assessment of an individual according to gender and gender stereotypes. Unconscious gender bias remains a significant barrier to women’s career advancement. (Source: ILO, Breaking Barriers: Unconscious Gender Bias in the Workplace)

WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT: When women and girls in all their diversity act freely, claim and exercise their rights, and fulfill their potential as full and equal members of society. All individuals have power within themselves; however, cultures, societies, and institutions create conditions that facilitate or undermine the possibilities for empowerment.