Understanding Gender and Fostering Positive Social Change in the 21st Century

Dear Colleagues,

Research has demonstrated changes in our understanding of gender across time, highlighting greater diversity in identities and expression while also emphasizing similarities across cognitive and psychological factors. The past few decades have seen the proliferation of efforts to promote gender equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). However, persisting patterns of gender relations may influence attitudes and behavior in restrictive ways, and progress towards gender equity has been slow. For example, women continue to be perceived as more communal and so are deemed less suitable for highly agentic roles (e.g., Carli et al., 2016), men who appear to be less agentic are rated as less competent and hirable for managerial roles (Bosak et al., 2018), and binary notions of gender remain a social norm (e.g., see Morgenroth and Ryan, 2020). Research on gender and EDI interventions often focus on this gender binary (women/men, feminine/masculine) and treat gender as an isolated social identity, despite the need for more nuanced and intersectional research. This limits our understanding of the nature and influence of gender and limits the generalizability of EDI interventions to more expansive gender (e.g., transgender, non-binary, gender fluid) and social identities. For example, other social identities may interact with gender to produce dynamic patterns of bias requiring intentional intervention efforts. 

The aim of this Special Issue, therefore, is to broaden our understanding of gender using diverse theoretical lenses and methodological approaches to examine the nature of this social concept among diverse groups, exploring related aspects such as representation, stereotypes, bias, attitudes, and gender initiatives. Additionally, we hope the articles in this Special Issue contribute to the research literature on fostering positive social change regarding gender through, for example, EDI intervention efforts that are evidence-based, accessible, and sustainable. 

This Special Issue invites contributions from fields such as, but not limited to: anthropology, behavioral science, economics, education, gender studies, history, law, media sciences, philosophy, politics, psychology, and sociology. Original research articles, conceptual papers, and reviews are welcome, as well as varied methodological approaches (e.g., experimental, cross-sectional, qualitative). There is no restriction on groups/contexts to be considered within submissions; however, we especially encourage submissions that are relevant to groups that have been targeted for oppression, particularly when members of this community are represented on the research team, and submissions from researchers from non-WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) countries to further expand the research literature. Consideration of cultural context and researcher positionality should be included within submissions where appropriate to acknowledge how these factors may influence the research conducted.

Dr. Lynn Farrell (she/her)
Dr. Amanda Kracen (she/her)
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• gender
• equity, diversity, and inclusion
• gender stereotypes
• gender bias
• attitudes
• intersectionality
• interventions