Understand Proposal Writing as a Teaching Opportunity.

Which assumptions and values can be found in calls? How can these assumptions be challenged in a proposal? What are our own assumptions, and which of those should we communicate clearly?

Proposal reviewers might not be entirely familiar with gender as a self-determined identity¹. Thus, such approaches need to be communicated accessibly across disciplines. That way, proposal writing becomes an opportunity for educating on these topics by providing a good example. In explaining our assumptions on gender and equity, clarifying specifically why and where this matters within the proposal constitutes best practice. Being precise in language use from the outset and acknowledging potential biases in data sets (whether pre-existing or newly created) can help to guide reviewers’ understanding of the subject matter.