The Gender Data Gap
Figure 1.3 A woman climbing the snow on the sidewalk in Winnipeg (Postmedia Network Inc, 2020).
Gender data is when researchers analyze
societies have forced pedestrians to have
information on certain topics, problems or
lighting and minimal crosswalks. It is
males and females separately and collect studies (Temin and Roca, 2016). When
there is a lack of data from one gender, typically female, it creates a knowledge
gap. When data fails to account for women, it creates many harmful issues causing
women to be misrepresented or forgotten in society (Temin and Roca). There is a
lack of data from the female perspective concerning the way they move and
travel within a city. A specific area where there is a shortage of data is pedestrian
narrow sidewalks, improperly scaled
mainly women who are being affected
by these poorly designed public spaces, but there is not enough information and research published to make noticeable changes. It is easier and more cost-
effective for designers and municipalities
to continue designing for the male default standard. If professionals continue to
design in this mindset, there will always be a gender data gap.
movement and care worker’s needs. Since
These gender data gaps exist in many
of cars, pedestrians’ needs are often
in Karlskoga, Sweden. There was a lack
municipalities prioritize the circulation
undermined (Criado-Perez, 2019, p.35). From a gendered perspective, women are more likely to be pedestrians than men
(Criado-Perez, 2019, p.35). They are also more likely to be doing care work that
involves pushing prams and travelling
with children (Criado-Perez). Car-centric
communities. An example of one existed of knowledge concerning the way women
travelled in the mornings during the winter months (Criado-Perez, 2019, p.32). After examining their policies and traditions,
they discovered that since women were travelling by foot in the winter mornings it was causing high injury rates from
slipping and falling (Tummers et al., 2019,
20
