| Session Title: The Examination of Gender in the Context of National and International Program Evaluation: Part II |
| Multipaper Session 769 to be held in Suwannee 16 on Saturday, Nov 14, 10:55 AM to 11:40 AM |
| Sponsored by the Feminist Issues in Evaluation TIG and the International and Cross-cultural Evaluation TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| Kathryn Bowen, Centerstone Research Institute, kathryn.bowen@centerstoneresearch.org |
| Discussant(s): |
| Donna Mertens, Gallaudet University, donna.mertens@gallaudet.edu |
| Abstract: Many programs influence the status of women, and the cultural, economic and political relationships between men and women and among household members. At the cross-roads of cultural competence and social justice await both opportunities and challenges for the contextually responsive evaluator. It also has important implications for those practitioners who explicitly deal with cultural dimensions that are implicit in international and gender issues. There is an implicit assumption of commensurability of cultural competence and social justice for evaluators who actively engage in dealing with societal power differentials. The purpose of the panel session is to present different perspectives from the US and other countries on how gender affects the context of the programs (such as education, health care, and poverty alleviation) they are evaluating, the methods they have used for assessing gender and some of the challenges in convincing clients that gender issues matter. |
| Cultural Competence and Social Justice |
| Saumitra Sengupta, APS Healthcare Inc, ssengupta@apshealthcare.com |
| At the cross-roads of cultural competence and social justice await both opportunities and challenges for the contextually responsive evaluator. It also has important implications for those practitioners who explicitly deal with cultural dimensions that are implicit in international and gender issues. This presentation will build upon current news items to analyze and start a discourse on 'sensitive' areas that 'political correctness' often dissuades the practitioner from dealing with head on! There is an implicit assumption of commensurability of cultural competence and social justice for evaluators who actively engage in dealing with societal power differentials. In some cases, that assumption may hold true, and in some others, the evaluator will have to examine the value proposition more in-depth, and through more dialogic means to find common grounds for change. This paper will propose that closer examination through examples from current situations. |
| Gender and Healthcare: Why Australian Men Can't Get Vasectomies |
| Denise Seigart, Mansfield University, dseigart@mansfield.edu |
| This paper explores the challenges of incorporating gender analysis into the evaluation of health programs in the US., Australia, and Canada. While conducting case studies of school based health care in these countries, it became apparent that inequities in the provision of health care exist and are often related to gender inequities. Racism, sexism and classism were all noted, due to religious, economic, and cultural influences, and these all play a part in the quality of and accessibility of health care in these countries. Examples of gender inequities in access to health care include the disproportionate influence religious organizations have on the provision of health care, the impact tying health care to employment has on women and children, and the valuing (or devaluing) of women's work with regard to the provision of health care for children in schools. Analysis of the results utilizing a feminist perspective will be presented. |