About the Course

Evaluation can unintentionally reproduce gender blind spots when it treats populations as homogeneous, relies on poorly disaggregated data, or focuses only on average effects. Gender-responsive evaluation examines differential experiences, power, agency, social norms and unintended outcomes, while selecting methods that are ethically appropriate and analytically strong enough to support accountability and learning.

This advanced programme develops capability to design, manage and use gender-responsive evaluations across policies, programmes and projects. It covers evaluability, gender-responsive evaluation questions and criteria, design selection, contribution analysis, impact-evaluation logic, intersectional sampling, mixed methods, participatory and feminist evaluation approaches, ethics, data integration, equity analysis, evaluation management and use of findings.

Participants progressively develop an evaluation terms of reference, evaluation matrix, sampling plan, data-collection strategy, contribution or impact design, analysis framework and utilization plan. Extended case work and an evaluation capstone ensure that sponsoring organizations gain practical evaluation products rather than a purely conceptual overview.

Target Participants

Evaluators; senior M&E professionals; gender specialists; researchers; programme managers; government evaluation staff; development partners; consultants and professionals responsible for commissioning, designing or managing evaluations.

Course Duration

• Classroom – 10 Days
• Online – 14 Days

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Assess the evaluability of gender equality interventions.
• Develop gender-responsive evaluation questions and criteria.
• Select fit-for-purpose mixed-method evaluation designs.
• Apply intersectional sampling and inquiry approaches.
• Design ethical and safe evaluation processes.
• Assess contribution to changes in agency, norms and institutions.
• Integrate quantitative and qualitative evidence.
• Analyse unintended and differential effects.
• Design participatory validation and utilization processes.
• Prepare a gender-responsive evaluation package and reporting plan.

Course Content

Foundations of Gender-Responsive Evaluation

• Purpose of gender-responsive evaluation
• Evaluation standards and principles
• Gender equality as evaluand
• Transformative evaluation concepts
• Evaluation readiness diagnostic

Gender-Responsive Evaluability Assessment

• Intervention logic clarity
• Data availability
• Stakeholder readiness
• Gender evaluability questions
• Evaluability assessment

Designing Gender-Responsive Evaluation Questions

• Gender equality questions
• Intersectional questions
• Unintended effects
• Power and agency questions
• Evaluation question workshop

Applying Evaluation Criteria through a Gender Lens

• Relevance of the intervention to gender equality needs and priorities
• Coherence with gender equality policies, strategies and related interventions
• Effectiveness in achieving intended gender equality results
• Efficiency in the use of resources for gender equality results
• Sustainability through a gender lens

Selecting Gender-Responsive Evaluation Designs

• Theory-based evaluation
• Mixed-method design
• Case-based approaches
• Quasi-experimental options
• Design selection matrix

Contribution Analysis for Gender Equality Results

• Contribution logic
• Alternative explanations
• Evidence expectations
• Contribution story
• Contribution analysis plan

Assessing Gender Equality Impact

• Counterfactual concepts
• Attribution limits
• Gender heterogeneity
• Equity effects
• Impact assessment strategy

Sampling for Gender-Responsive Evaluation

• Intersectional sampling
• Comparison groups
• Hard-to-reach groups
• Non-response risks
• Sampling framework

Survey Methods for Gender-Responsive Evaluation

• Outcome measurement
• Sensitive questions
• Agency measures
• Bias mitigation
• Survey design lab

Qualitative Methods for Gender-Responsive Evaluation

• Case studies
• Outcome harvesting
• Most significant change
• Narrative inquiry
• Qualitative tool design

Participatory and Inclusive Evaluation Methods

• Stakeholder roles
• Community interpretation
• Participatory analysis
• Validation processes
• Participation plan

Ethics and Safeguarding in Gender Evaluation

• Informed consent
• Privacy and confidentiality
• GBV-sensitive inquiry
• Referral protocols
• Evaluation ethics protocol

Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Gender Evidence

• Triangulation of quantitative, qualitative and participatory evaluation evidence
• Joint displays
• Mixed-method interpretation
• Contradictory evidence
• Integrated analysis matrix

Reporting Gender-Responsive Evaluation Findings

• Gender-responsive reporting
• Evidence visualization
• Developing specific, feasible and evidence-based gender equality recommendations
• Management response
• Report architecture

Integrated Gender-Responsive Evaluation Capstone

• Evaluation matrix
• Fieldwork plan
• Analysis plan
• Utilization strategy
• Integrated evaluation package

Managing Gender-Responsive Evaluations

• Evaluation governance and independence
• Evaluator competencies and team composition
• Stakeholder engagement and reference groups
• Quality assurance across evaluation stages
• Development of an evaluation management plan

Equity and Intersectionality in Evaluation

• Distributional effects and subgroup analysis
• Intersectional comparison strategies
• Equity-focused interpretation of outcomes
• Identifying who benefits and who is left behind
• Applied equity-analysis case exercise

Using Evaluation Evidence for Gender Equality Decisions

• Utilization-focused evaluation principles
• Management response mechanisms
• Communicating findings to different audiences
• Tracking recommendation implementation
• Development of an evaluation utilization plan

Practical Outputs

• Evaluation terms of reference
• Gender-responsive evaluation matrix
• Sampling and data-collection plan
• Contribution/impact design
• Evaluation ethics checklist
• Equity-analysis framework
• Evaluation management plan
• Evaluation utilization plan

Training Approach

Participants work through a full evaluation design cycle using commissioning scenarios, evaluability reviews, design-selection exercises, methods labs, and simulated analysis. Complex cases are used to test choices where evidence is incomplete, sensitive, or politically contested.

The capstone requires participants to defend a gender-responsive evaluation design to a simulated commissioning panel, demonstrating methodological rigor, ethical safeguards and practical utility.

Organizational Benefits

• Improves quality of evaluations addressing gender equality outcomes.
• Strengthens evidence on who benefits and who does not.
• Improves measurement of agency, norms and structural change.
• Reduces ethical and methodological risks in sensitive evaluations.
• Strengthens commissioning and quality assurance of evaluations.
• Improves utilization of evaluation evidence for programme and policy decisions.

Certification

Participants who successfully complete this course will receive a Certificate of Course Completion from Devimpact Institute, recognizing the knowledge, practical skills and competencies developed through the programme.

Customization Options

This course can be customized and delivered as an in-house programme to address the specific policies, systems, sector context and capacity-development priorities of an organization. The course duration, modules, case studies and practical exercises may be adjusted following a training needs assessment.