Understanding the Gendered Impacts of COVID-19 in the Arctic

This award supports research on how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected women across political, economic, social, civic and personal domains in three Arctic locations. The PI will assess the effects of pandemic conditions on existing gender inequalities and policy responses. Through collaboration with tribal and community liaisons, the project will also evaluate pandemic impacts on Indigenous women in Alaska and Russia. Qualitative and quantitative data from both rural and urban locations will ensure broad coverage of the study areas. A series of indicators tracking political, economic, social and civic gendered policy responses will be developed and deployed online for public use.

This project uses a case study approach, employing mixed methods to identify and evaluate pandemic impacts on women. Qualitative data collection includes interviews and focus groups with women in Alaska, Iceland, and Russia. The PI will also analyze quantitative socioeconomic data on labor force participation, earnings, and employment. Study locations were selected to reflect both rural and urban contexts and to include both Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants. Broader impacts include training and education of students, development of university curriculum, promotion of gender equality to the public and stakeholder organizations, and a multilingual web portal making the study data and findings available to a global audience.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.