IIFET-2024 Gender Workshop for economics researchers proves popular.

On 15 July, a day before the start of the IIFET 2024 Conference, the Workshop on Integrating Gender into Fisheries and Aquaculture Economics and Trade Research was held at World Fish Headquarters in Penang, Malaysia. Although the importance of integrating gender perspectives has been recognized in various academic disciplines and in various sectors for socio-economic development, progress in gender integration in Fisheries Economics has been relatively minimal to date. That many researchers/ practitioners have felt the same way is evident in the high application rate to this workshop. Fifty-six participants, 39 per cent of them men, joined the one-day event (see Chart for the distribution of participants by geographical region of registration), while many other aspiring participants could not be accommodated. The fact that 70% of the participants were sponsored by their organizations reflects the interest, importance, and felt need to improve the gender analysis capacity of researchers.

Chart. Distribution of Participants by Region of Registration to IIFET

Feedback from participants

• “best workshop I have ever attended”
• “The workshop marked a significant milestone in my career”
• “this transformative conference”
• “the new friends I made”
• “the session was truly enlightening”

The workshop consisted of four modules – introducing gender in fisheries/ aquaculture economics and trade research; the micro view of gendering the households; the macro view of markets, trade, technology and governance; and principles and data for gender analysis. Around 70% of the participants considered themselves as “beginners” of gender analysis, though most were seasoned researchers in fisheries/ aquaculture and some in economics. The knowledge and insights of such experienced participants together with the well-articulated concepts and examples provided by the facilitators made the discussions and exercises in the workshop rich and exciting.

Very positive feedback was given by the participants (see feedback box), including their interest in future workshops. Although the participants differed in terms of experience and expertise, interactions with other like-minded researchers benefited them. Another strength was a more than average gender balance for gender research workshops, which tend to be missing men.

This first-ever IIFET gender workshop was a grand success, not only because of the large number of participants with varied interests and experiences, high engagement, and reflections on its value by participants but also because of its contribution to IIFET. Specifically, the Workshop likely contributed to higher attendance by women researchers at the IIFET 2024 Conference itself. Approximately 18% of the IIFET 2024 attendance was comprised of Gender Workshop participants, and 47% of the attendees of IIFET 2024 were women. Such visibility and the contribution of the gender workshop are expected to invite even higher attendance by senior fisheries economists for future gender workshops. Building upon the foundations of this workshop as a basic course, future workshops could offer more advanced gender modules such as the use of tools for gender analysis and coaching in publishing gendered fisheries and aquaculture economics research.

We thank all the participants and the contributors below!