Doing Gender, Doing Surveys? Women's Gatekeeping and Men's Non‐Participation in Multi‐Actor Reproductive Surveys

Abstract

Gender differences in research participation have been documented in both quantitative and qualitative studies, a pattern that is particularly pronounced in studies of reproduction. We use the National Survey of Fertility Barriers to analyze three reasons frequently used to explain men's non-participation in reproductive research: (1) Reproduction is a sensitive subject for men, (2) reproduction is women's domain, and (3) men's unavailability due to seemingly pragmatic reasons (e.g., work schedule). Using binary logistic regression, we test these three explanations across two different models: women's gatekeeping (denying researcher access to partners) (n = 1,637) and men's own non-response (n = 1,454). A substantial minority of women (12.8 percent), engaged in gatekeeping, but the dominant mechanism of men's non-participation was their own non-response once women granted researcher access to partners. Consistent with prior studies on general survey non-response, several demographic variables were associated with men's participation. Additionally, findings suggest that the notion of reproduction as women's domain received the strongest support, though specific variables within this construct differed for models predicting women's gatekeeping versus men's nonresponse of their own accord.

Te rangahau o te tuakiri Māori me ngā waiaro ā-pūtea | The Māori identity and financial attitudes study (mifas) - Background, theoretical orientation and first-wave response rates

“…The Mäori population does have a higher proportion of women compared to men (51% vs 49%, respectively; Statistics New Zealand, 2018); however, that alone does not account for the MIFAS gender skew. Gender has been found to have a considerable influence on survey participation internationally (Slauson-Blevins & Johnson, 2016;W. G. Smith, 2008); therefore, the gender difference in the MIFAS is not surprising and is consistent with patterns of survey responses found elsewhere.…”

The role of culture and identity for economic values: a quantitative study of Māori attitudes

“…The Māori population does have a higher proportion of women than men (51% vs 49% respectively; Statistics New Zealand 2018); however, that alone does not account for the MIFAS gender skew. Gender has been found to have a considerable influence on survey participation internationally, and women are typically much more likely to complete surveys than men (Smith 2008;Slauson-Blevins and Johnson 2016). Therefore, the gender difference in the MIFAS is not surprising and is consistent with patterns of survey responses found elsewhere.…”

Men on the margins? Reflections on recruiting and engaging men in reproduction research

“…When asked why they participated in the study, 16 of the 25 participants reflected that 'interest' was one of their motivating factors. This included interest in the topic generally or specifically in relation to them as it was something they were considering at that time: Other researchers have identified interest as a motivating factor for research participation more generally (Clark, 2010) and have identified salience of topic as a factor which positively correlates with men's participation in reproduction research (Harrison, 2012;Slauson-Blevins and Johnson, 2016). The length of interviews (see above) and the fact that men talked a great deal and there were few silences also indicate that this was a topic of great interest to men.…”