Intersectional analysis for science and technology

Mathias Wullum Nielsen, Elena Gissi, Shirin Heidari, Richard Horton, Kari C. Nadeau, Dorothy Ngila, Safiya Umoja Noble, Hee Young Paik, Girmaw Abebe Tadesse, Eddy Y. Zeng, James Zou and Londa Schiebinger ()
Additional contact information
Mathias Wullum Nielsen: University of Copenhagen
Elena Gissi: Institute of Marine Sciences
Shirin Heidari: Geneva Graduate Institute
Richard Horton: The Lancet
Kari C. Nadeau: Harvard University
Dorothy Ngila: National Research Foundation of South Africa
Safiya Umoja Noble: University of California, Los Angeles
Hee Young Paik: Seoul National University
Girmaw Abebe Tadesse: Microsoft AI for Good Lab
Eddy Y. Zeng: Environmental Pollution
James Zou: Stanford University
Londa Schiebinger: Stanford University

Nature, 2025, vol. 640, issue 8058, 329-337

Abstract: Abstract Intersectionality describes interdependent systems of inequality related to sex, gender, race, age, class and other socio-political dimensions. By focusing on the compounded effects of social categories, intersectional analysis can enhance the accuracy and experimental efficiency of science. Here we extend intersectional approaches that were predominantly developed in the humanities, social sciences and public health to the fields of natural science and technology, where this type of analysis is less established. Informed by diverse global and disciplinary examples—from enhancing facial recognition for diverse user bases to mitigating the disproportionate impact of climate change on marginalized populations—we extract methods to demonstrate how quantitative intersectional analysis functions throughout the research process, from strategic considerations for establishing research priorities to formulating research questions, collecting and analysing data and interpreting results. Our goal is to offer a set of guidelines for researchers, peer-reviewed journals and funding agencies that facilitate systematic integration of intersectional analysis into relevant domains of science and technology. Precision in research best guides effective social and environmental policy aimed at achieving global equity and sustainability.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08774-w Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:640:y:2025:i:8058:d:10.1038_s41586-025-08774-w

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-08774-w

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().