Running head: GENDER ISSUES IN GLOBAL HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS 1

Political Challenges To Prioritizing Gender in Global Health Organisations

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Political Challenges To Prioritizing Gender in Global Health Organisations

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Shawar and Shiffman's (2020) article, “Political challenges to prioritizing gender

in global health organisations,” is a research paper focused on analyzing the different

factors that influence the integration of gender issues in most global organizations,

which deals with health governance. The article's focus can also be interpreted as the

authors’ objective for conducting the research. Shawar and Shiffman (2020) justify the

need to research on the subject by stating that most global organizations have often

overlooked gender issues, resulting in harmful gender practices and gender inequality.

This report is a critical review of the article, as mentioned above, and will especially,

determine whether the study was done properly. Therefore, the report will review the

whole research article by evaluating the methods employed, and the literature used.

The report will also critically review the research article’s findings and how they have

been discussed or interpreted. It is also important to examine the discussion part and

how the authors have explained the findings or summarized the whole study.

Literature Review

Regarding whether the research is situated in the right context, the author

carefully searched for peer-reviewed research articles on health, gender norms, gender

equality, global health, policy, and strategy. Also, Shawar and Shiffman (2020) ensured

they include major global organizations such as UN agencies, non-governmental

organizations, and many other international organizations involved in health programs,

to put their study into the right context. The literature has also considered both the

political and organizational context, which could affect how the gender issue is

approached in large health organizations. This is enough evidence to suggest that the

study is situated in the right context.

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Shawar and Shiffman’s (2020) research article has used both old and recent

literature, stretching from 1980 to 2019. In most researches, it is recommended to use

peer-reviewed studies not older than ten years. A forty-year range, which Shawar and

Shiffman (2020) decided to limit their literature on, is quite large and should not have

been used. The article appears to be balanced because it considers broad and different

point of views. It has also incorporated different aspects, such as cultural and political

factors, which has further enhanced its balanced approach. 

Shawar and Shiffman’s (2020) article has raised several issues, or gaps in the

literature, where researchers on the subject do not share similar views. Such gaps

include but are not limited to how the issue needs to be addressed, how the issue is

framed, and lastly, how to describe gender issues in the context of global health

organizations. Other than stating the gaps, the article does not address them or

recommend any steps to be taken to address them. Instead, Shawar and Shiffman’s

(2020) article argued that the gaps do not matter since the proponent of gender issues

agree that it should be taken seriously, particularly by global health organizations. 

Methods used

The ontological position is based on the world's reality and can be arrived at by

using interpretative research methods like interviewing and using reaction papers

(Goertz, & Mahoney, 2012). In Shawar and Shiffman’s (2020) article, the ontological

position was that, even though gender equality is a major issue for many organizations,

it fails to capture other issues affecting gender equality. For instance, the influence of

toxic masculinities on men or boys' wellbeing. Epistemological position can be

described as how the authors have explained, or the reasons they give concerning the
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overlooking of gender issues in most global health organizations (Goertz, & Mahoney,

2012). The authors' epistemological position on why gender issues have been

overlooked mentions several issues. First, there is the sexist and patriarchal culture,

then there are retrogressive disciplinary norms, and lastly, there is a conservative

government that perceives gender issues as foreign interference. 

The article has largely used a qualitative research method to study the gender

issue under investigation. For instance, there is the use of interviews and thematic

examination of peer-reviewed articles, all of which are qualitative research components.

A valid method can detect findings appropriately, especially regarding a cultural and

contextual variable (Leung, 2015). The qualitative method used has been able to

address the issue contextually. For instance, it based its argument on political and

cultural factors. This allows the authors to explain the issue contextually, which makes it

appropriate for the study. 

The data used in Shawar and Shiffman’s (2020) article, was analyzed using

qualitative methods, as stated earlier, and were appropriate to answer the pressing

questions that were key to unraveling the puzzle under investigation. For instance, by

referencing peer reviewed studies on the subject, the study explained how gender

issues are being overlooked in global health organizations for having a sexist and

patriarchal culture, retrogressive disciplinary norms, and a conservative government. 

Shawar and Shiffman’s (2020) article has addressed some ethical issues. For

instance, when carrying out the study, the article points out that the participants had to

be consulted before transcribing and recording the interview. Also, to ensure the

confidentiality of the interviewee, the audio transcriptions used had to de-identify the
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respondents. These are ethical concerns that had to be addressed when taking

feedback from the participants. Assuring the participants that their data is protected

could motivate them to share honest opinions, and prevent potential lawsuits against

the researchers, especially if the participant’s identity is leaked. 

Result or Findings

The findings are presented in brief, but in such a way that they explain the

challenges facing most health organizations in addressing gender issues. The

presentation has tried to elaborate on the correlation between the problem and its

causes, which is appropriate for this study. In terms of answering the study's objective,

the findings show the reasons gender issues have not been properly addressed in

global health organizations, which was the objective of the study. As presented in the

findings, these reasons include issue characteristics, political environments, and

organizational culture. 

Discussion and Conclusion

The article has further elaborated on why gender issues are not properly

addressed in most global health organizations. For instance, the article explained that

there is lack of professional training within most global organizations. Women's

patriarchal practices are also common, and most governments are not progressive or

liberal, thus hindering the introduction of necessary changes that would address gender

issues. Even though the article’s discussion part has not referred back to its previously

stated objective, the explanation presented in meant to address the objective and is

derived from the literature used. 

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The article has not acknowledged any weaknesses either in the methodology or

data used. This is usually important to increase the credibility of the study. It is also

difficult to have a research study without any weakness, and therefore, failing to point

out any shortcomings is often not recommended.  

The article concludes that, for gender issues to be addressed by large global

organizations, there is a need for collective actions involving strategy proponents,

organizational cultures, and the external political environment. The article also further

argues that, even though changing certain features is difficult, there is a visible change

taking place in the political environment, which is an indication of a brighter tomorrow.

Moreover, the article argues that reforms in organizational cultures could soon start

taking place because the precedent has already been set by notable world leaders such

as Melinda Gates and Nasif Sadik. However, in the absence of real and visible

progress, predictions remain to be just predictions and should not be used as evidence

of what will happen in future. 

The authors have failed to address another pertinent issue, such as the study's

significance, and especially how it contributes to the body of knowledge. There is no

doubt that this study is important and would help to point out the unfair treatment most

women are exposed to in large global organizations. Therefore, even though the

authors did not address this fact, it is clear that the study would increase awareness of

gender issues. 

There is no evidence presented in the study explaining how the article has been

received in the field or whether it has been supported. This is a valuable information that

should have been included as well. However, the fact that the study is valuable means it
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would easily get supported or become popular within the field, especially because it

touches on global organizations, which should be at the forefront in addressing gender

issues. 

References
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Goertz, G., & Mahoney, J. (2012). Concepts and measurement: Ontology and

epistemology. Social Science Information, 51(2), 205-216.

Leung, L. (2015). Validity, reliability, and generalizability in qualitative research. Journal

of family medicine and primary care, 4(3), 324.

Shawar, Y. R., & Shiffman, J. (2020). Political challenges to prioritizing gender in global

health organisations. Journal of Global Health, 10(1).