Gender, women and scientific research

Abstract

Gender is a psychosocial construct referring to the socially built roles, behaviors, expressions and identities of girls, women, boys, men and people with gender diver-sity, while sex is related to the biological attributes of a woman or a man. Even though the terms “sex” and “gender” are often used in a binary way, there is consid-erable diversity in the way individuals and groups understand, experiment and express them. This narrative review describes some relevant aspects of the subjective difference that exists and favors men over women in the fields of sciences and research, starting from a historical perspective in the light of feminist movements. In particular, women are described as researchers-creators of scientific knowledge, as well as the subjects of analysis. Some conflicts arising from sex bias, applied to biomedical research, are also analyzed, and cases are delivered that exemplify the disarray that has historically accompanied the female gender in this area, its ignorance and little cultural recognition. This review is the last article in a methodological series on general concepts in biostatistics and clinical epidemiology developed by the Chair of Methodology of Scientific Research of the School of Medicine of the Universidad de Valparaiso, Chile, which aims to address a contingent and cross-cutting theme to all scientific research.