Research on gender in demography: Limitations and constraints

This paper explores the issue of gender in demography, focusing on the ques tion of why we don't know more than we do about the role of gender in demog raphic processes. Our lack of knowledge is partly explained by demography's research and policy focus on the two questions central to the field in rec ent decades, fertility decline and the relationship between economic and de mographic change. The focus on these issues - sometimes at the expense of o ther research questions and issues - has meant that some social processes s urrounding demographic change, including the role of gender, have not recei ved the attention they deserve. Understanding gender's complex relationship to social behaviors, such as demographic behavior, requires attention to s ocial/cultural context and to power. Demography needs to expand our knowled ge of gender through the development of new research questions, research de signs, and methodologies. Doing so will give us new insights into demograph ic processes.