We are women! We are ready! Amplifying women’s voices through feminist participatory action research
| DOI | 10.1177/1035719X21998479 |
| Author | Alejandra Pineda,Amanda Scothern,Tracy Mcdiarmid |
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Academic Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1035719X21998479
Evaluation Journal of Australasia
2021, Vol. 21(2) 85 –100
© The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/1035719X21998479
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We are women! We are
ready! Amplifying women’s
voices through feminist
participatory action research
Tracy Mcdiarmid
International Women’s Development Agency, Australia
Alejandra Pineda
Previously International Women’s Development Agency, Australia
Amanda Scothern
Previously International Women’s Development Agency, Australia
Abstract
Gender equality requires incremental and transformative change which occurs
over generations. Strengthening women’s movements through collective action and
learning is a key strategy in achieving such change. Capturing those changes in the
voices of diverse women is critical to ethical, feminist, participatory evaluation. The
purpose of this article is to explore the strengths, benefits and challenges in using
Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) to evaluate a women’s leadership
programme. This article demonstrates the rationale and context for FPAR providing
a brief overview of feminist approaches to evaluation and an outline of the key
elements of FPAR that have influenced recent evaluative activities by the International
Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). The case study of the Women’s Action for
Voice and Empowerment (WAVE) programme is then presented to demonstrate the
application of FPAR. Findings indicate the potential of this framework to influence
evaluation design to strengthen the capacity of diverse women as co-evaluators; build
on and generate knowledge as a resource of and for the women who create, own and
Corresponding author:
Tracy Mcdiarmid, International Women’s Development Agency, PO Box 64, Flinders Lane, 8009
Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Email: tmcdiarmid@iwda.org.au
998479EVJ0010.1177/1035719X21998479Evaluation Journal of AustralasiaMcdiarmid et al.
research-article2021
Academic Article
86 Evaluation Journal of Australasia 21(2)
share it; and, design evaluative spaces that promote authentic and inclusive forms of
evidence. This article discusses insights from the findings, reflections and the lessons
learned on using a FPAR framework.
Keywords
feminist, gender, evaluation, research, participatory
Introduction: choosing a feminist approach to evaluation
The purpose of this practice article is to explore the strengths, benefits and challenges
in using a Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) methodology to evaluate a
women’s leadership programme. First, this article will provide the rationale and con-
text for FPAR providing a brief overview of feminist approaches to evaluation and an
outline of the key elements of FPAR that have influenced recent evaluative activities
by the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA). The case study of the
WAVE programme is then presented to demonstrate the application of FPAR. The case
study consists of a mid-term evaluation of a women’s leadership programme to explore
a feminist approach to evaluation in practice. The case study findings indicate the
potential of this framework to influence evaluation design that will: strengthen the
capacity of diverse women as co-evaluators; build on and generate knowledge as a
resource of and for the women who create, own and share it; and, to design evaluative
spaces that promote authentic and inclusive forms of evidence. Insights from the find-
ings and reflections on the lessons learned conclude this article.
Drawing on international best practice, the Australian Council for International
Development (ACFID) and Research for Development Impact Network (RDIN, 2017)
include evaluation in their definition of research, recognising that evaluation is a form
of applied research that raises a variety of ethical considerations.1 This understanding
of evaluation as a form of research informs our approach in this article. In 2017, the
International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA, 2017) developed its Feminist
Research Framework. In line with ACFID and RDIN (2017), the IWDA framework
includes operational and policy and advocacy research, market research and evalua-
tions. The Framework highlights that while gender-sensitive research and evaluation
aims for gender balance and considers differential experiences of men and women,
feminist research and evaluation is distinctive in that manifestations of power and
operation of gender norms are a key focus of investigation. Furthermore, the consid-
eration of power and gender norms is central to both the topic of research, research
methodology and implementation (IWDA, 2017; Mertens, 2014).
Evaluators frequently question the difference between participatory evaluative
approaches and feminist approaches (Mathison, 2014; SenGupta et al., 2014, pp. 32–
33). Arguably, the principles of participatory evaluation closely align to feminist prin-
ciples: for example, an emphasis on meaningful and inclusive participation in data
collection, awareness of subject/evaluator roles, and commitment to data triangulation
and sense-checking of findings. Good practice participatory techniques in evaluation
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