General
Description of assignment title: Indicators for Gender Equity in Tech & Science Product Design & Development
Assignment country: United States of America
Expected start date: Invalid Date
Sustainable Development Goal: 5. Gender equality
For how many hours per week will the volunteer be required?
6 – 10
Host entity: UNFPA
Type: Online
Duration: 10 weeks
Number of assignments: 1
Details
Mission and objectives
UNFPA is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Our mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. Through innovation, UNFPA disrupts inequalities to ensure rights and choices for all, with no one left behind. We take down barriers to women and girls in obtaining services and exercising their right to sexual and reproductive health. Equity 2030 Alliance is founded by UNFPA to to build an equitable future for all by closing gaps in gender inclusive solutions in science, technology, and financing. This DoA will be co-hosted by UNICC: The United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC) has over 50 years of experience as the largest strategic partner for digital solutions and cybersecurity within the United Nations system. We design and deploy transformational digital tools and programmes to support over 90 partners in fulfilling their mandates. As a part of the UN family, UNICC espouses the same values that the UN embraces. As a strategic partner, with the world-class Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence, data and analytics practice and an array of platform, software and infrastructure solutions, UNICC serves the entire of the UN family and other international organizations with similar missions and values for the benefit of the world.
Context
To ensure a world of infinite opportunities for all, we need to build an equitable future that can be achieved only if advances in science and technology include and address the needs of all. Currently, there is a significant gap in gender-inclusive innovation, which can be attributed to, among other things, a lack of women’s inclusion in various stages of the design and development of science and technology solutions, as well as inadequate investment in research and innovation in women-centric solutions. A large body of evidence suggests that design especially in technology is often “male-centric by default”. Gender equity has not been prioritized in technology and science product design, and the evidence base available is limited or non-existent. Currently, data on solutions addressing the inclusion of women in data sets and women-centric solutions is so marginal and of such poor quality that it perpetuates a cycle of insufficient evidence, exacerbating existing biases, widening the gap in data equity, creating solutions that are not inclusive and accessible. Gender inequity in science and technology solutions may not be intentional, but our efforts to address them should be.
Task description
We are looking for an Online Volunteer to define the indicators to detect, measure and track gender equity in all stages of product design and development (i.e. innovation life cycle), including in the datasets and algorithms that inform the development/research of solutions by tech and science entities. The volunteer is expected to conduct a literature and data review, and other means of research as needed, to determine the attributes for gender inclusivity at all stages of product design and development (i.e. innovation life cycle), including datasets and algorithms that inform the development/research of solutions. The expected outputs are: ● Indicators, including the attributes to detect, measure and track gender equity in digital solutions design. ● Short report on the rationale for the indicators and attributes. ● Data checklist for the potential user (project, program directors and evaluators addressing the development of digital solutions and related technologies) to consider. The checklist would be a set of key questions for incorporating gender and intersectional analyses into digital solutions design as a baseline for developing digital public goods Preferred format to deliver the outputs is XLS/XLSX/XLSB. All outputs shall be made available as open source, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, and compatible with Digital Public Goods standards. The volunteer is expected to work together with another online volunteer who will focus on developing the proof of concept of an AI/ML tool where the indicators can be applied to detect, measure and track gender equity. The results of this project will inform the UNFPA and UNICC in developing evidence-based strategies, in building a flexible data audit solution that can be customized and configured in a variety of contexts to identify the gender-equity data gaps, and in understanding the quality and availability of data. Data auditing is the process of assessing how a company’s data is fit for the given purpose – in this case for addressing gender equity through the innovation cycle of the product design and development. This involves profiling the data and assessing the impact of poor quality data on the organization’s performance and profits. Example datasets to utilize to define the indicators: ● European Commission CORDIS Database ● EU Clinical Trials.eu ● ClinicalTrials.gov ● Annual reports and ESG reports Datasets and code repository will be shared via UNICC GitHub The Online Volunteer/s will have the opportunity to build connections with and receive support to the assignment from UNFPA and UNICC. The assignment is expected to start in early September 2023.
Requirements
Required experience
● Excellent analytical and problem-solving research skills ● University degree or certification in social sciences, computer sciences, data sciences, or a related field is an asset. ● 1-2 years of relevant data engineering experience is an asset ● Substantive skills in gender inclusion in design is an asset ● Experience with data cleaning, visualization, and reporting is an asset.
Languages
English, Level: Working knowledge, Required
Other information
Inclusivity statement
United Nations Volunteers is an equal opportunity programme that welcomes applications from qualified professionals. We are committed to achieving diversity in terms of gender, care protected characteristics. As part of their adherence to the values of UNV, all UN Volunteers commit themselves to combat any form of discrimination, and to promoting respect for human rights and individual dignity, without distinction of a person’s race, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, age, language, social origin or other status.
