TL;DR

This list includes 45 research ideas across gender and the economy, media, climate change, race, law, education, health, technology, religion, and conflict and displacement. Some topics can be explored through existing research, public data, historical records, policy documents, or media analysis, while others may benefit from stronger research methods, statistical analysis, or access to specialized sources. If you want to turn one of these ideas into an independent research project with 1:1 PhD mentorship, you can explore the Lumiere Research Scholar Program.

If you are interested in gender studies, there is a wide range of questions you can explore beyond the topics usually discussed in class. You could examine gender and economic inequality, study representation in media and technology, explore gender and health, or look at how gender shapes experiences of education, law, religion, and conflict. The ideas below are meant to give you a starting point and help you turn a broad interest into a researchable question. Before choosing a topic, you can read What Makes A Good Research Question for a basic guide to developing a focused research question.

How to pick the right research topic?

Selecting a research question in a field as broad as gender studies can be difficult. A good starting point is to think about three things: what you are genuinely interested in, why the question matters, and whether you can realistically research it with the time and resources you have.

Interest: Research can take weeks or months, so choose a question you will still want to investigate after the initial excitement wears off.

Relevance: Consider whether your question connects to an existing social, cultural, economic, political, or legal issue and what your findings could help explain.

Feasibility: Think about the sources, data, case studies, or other evidence you can access. A narrower question with strong evidence is usually easier to develop into a meaningful research project.

What can you explore within gender studies as a high schooler?

Gender studies covers many subjects, so you can approach it through economics, sociology, history, law, media studies, political science, education, technology, health, religion, and more. You can study a broad social question or focus on one group, policy, institution, time period, or place. The ideas below give you different starting points while leaving enough room for you to develop your own research question.

Gender and the Economy

Historically, women, non-binary people, and queer people have made important contributions to the economy through both paid employment and unpaid work. Research in this area can examine how gender affects employment, income, entrepreneurship, financial decisions, and working conditions.

1. Unpaid Domestic Labor: Examine how unpaid household work is divided across genders.

2. Gender and Informal Work: Investigate gender differences in participation and working conditions in the informal sector.

3. Women and the Gig Economy: Evaluate how gig work affects the economic well-being of women.

4. Gender and Entrepreneurship: Explore the challenges faced by women and non-binary entrepreneurs.

5. Gender and Investment Behavior: Analyze gender differences in investment choices and attitudes toward financial risk.

Gender and Media

Film, television, music, gaming, advertising, journalism, and social media all influence how gender is represented and understood. You can examine representation in media as well as inequalities within the media industry.

6. Women’s Fashion Through History: Trace how changing fashion norms have reflected ideas about gender.

7. Female Superheroes and Gender Norms: Analyze how female superhero characters challenge or reinforce gender expectations.

8. Celebrity Culture and Gender: Examine how celebrity culture influences perceptions of gender roles.

9. Gender and Sports Journalism: Compare how male and female journalists cover women’s sports.

10. Advertising and Gender: Examine how advertising aimed at girls differs across age groups.

Gender, the Environment, and Climate Change

Environmental crises do not affect everyone in the same way. Gender can influence access to resources, exposure to environmental risks, participation in climate decision-making, and the ability to recover from disasters.

11. Women and Indigenous Environmental Practices: Study environmental practices developed by women in Indigenous communities.

12. The Rise of Ecofeminism: Trace the development of ecofeminist thought and its influence on environmental movements.

13. Gender and Climate Leadership: Examine gender disparities in climate policy and environmental leadership.

14. Women and Disaster Resilience: Investigate how women in rural communities prepare for and recover from environmental disasters.

15. Gender and Climate Migration: Examine how climate-related displacement affects women and gender minorities.

Gender and Race

Gender and race can intersect in ways that shape access to opportunities, political representation, healthcare, employment, and other institutions. An intersectional approach allows you to examine how different identities can influence experiences of inequality.

16. Race, Gender, and Healthcare: Explore disparities in healthcare experienced by women from different racial groups.

17. Race, Gender, and Media Stereotypes: Compare media representations of people with different racial and gender identities.

18. Race and Global Feminist Movements: Analyze how race has shaped feminist movements in different countries.

19. Black Women and Sports Media: Examine how Black women athletes are represented in sports media.

20. Women of Color in Politics: Study the historical and political influence of women of color.

Gender and Law

Laws and policies have a major influence on rights, opportunities, and protections related to gender. Research in this area can examine discrimination, reproductive rights, gender identity, workplace equality, and other legal questions.

21. Online Safety and Gender: Examine legal and policy responses to online harassment targeting women.

22. Reproductive Rights and Law: Compare legal frameworks governing reproductive rights and their effects on women's health and safety.

23. Gender Identity and Anti-Discrimination Law: Analyze legal protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

24. Gender-Neutral Legal Language: Evaluate the use of gender-neutral language in legal documents and proceedings.

25. Intellectual Property and Women in STEM: Examine how intellectual property law affects women working in science and technology.

Gender and Education

Education can affect career opportunities, economic mobility, and participation in public life. Research in this area can look at differences in educational access, participation, achievement, and institutional policies across genders.

26. Gender Gaps in STEM Education: Investigate factors that influence participation in STEM subjects across genders.

27. Gender and Access to Education: Compare barriers to educational access for girls and boys across different regions.

28. Gender and School Leadership: Examine the representation of women in school and university leadership.

29. Gender and Educational Policy: Evaluate how policies designed to improve gender equality affect educational outcomes.

Gender and Health

Health outcomes can vary across gender because of differences in biology, social conditions, healthcare access, and public policy. This area lets you connect gender studies with medicine, public health, psychology, and social policy.

30. Gender and Reproductive Health Policy: Compare how reproductive health policies affect different groups.

31. Gender and Mental Health: Investigate differences in mental health outcomes or access to mental healthcare across genders.

32. Gender Identity and Healthcare Access: Examine barriers to healthcare faced by transgender and gender-diverse people.

33. Gender and Clinical Research: Explore how gender representation in medical research can affect health outcomes.

Gender, Technology, and the Digital World

Technology has created new ways for people to work, communicate, and participate in society, but it can also reproduce existing inequalities. You can examine how algorithms, online platforms, and the technology workforce affect people across genders.

34. Gender Bias in Algorithms: Investigate how algorithmic systems can reproduce gender bias.

35. Gender and Online Harassment: Examine patterns of gender-based harassment on digital platforms.

36. Women in the Technology Industry: Analyze gender disparities in technology employment and leadership.

37. Gender Bias in Artificial Intelligence: Explore how gender representation in training data can affect AI systems.

Gender and Religion

Religion can shape ideas about family, leadership, work, dress, sexuality, and gender roles. Comparative research can help you examine how different religious traditions approach gender and how those ideas have changed over time.

38. Religious Institutions and Gender Roles: Examine how religious institutions influence ideas about gender roles.

39. Women and Religious Leadership: Compare women's access to leadership positions across religious traditions.

40. Gender and Religious Education: Investigate how religious education can shape ideas about gender and family roles.

41. Gender Roles Across Religious Traditions: Compare how different faith traditions approach a specific question about gender.

Gender, Conflict, and Displacement

Conflict and displacement can create specific risks for women, girls, LGBTQ+ people, and other vulnerable groups. Research in this area can examine gender-based violence, refugee experiences, humanitarian policy, and recovery after conflict.

42. Gender-Based Violence in Conflict: Examine how conflict affects patterns of gender-based violence.

43. Gender and Refugee Experiences: Investigate how displacement affects people differently across genders.

44. Women in Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Analyze the role of women in rebuilding communities after conflict.

45. Gender and Humanitarian Policy: Evaluate how humanitarian responses address the needs of different genders.

What approaches can you use to research gender studies?

Research in gender studies can take many forms, from analyzing historical records and media to studying data, policies, laws, and social trends. What matters most is that you start with a clear question and choose evidence that can actually help you answer it. A focused question will usually give you more room to make your own argument and produce research that says something useful about the issue you are studying.

If you want to work on an independent research project in gender studies or inequality with guidance from a research mentor, you can explore the Lumiere Research Scholar Program.

Questions to consider before starting your gender studies research

1. What makes a gender-and-law topic different from a gender-and-policy topic?

A gender-and-law project usually focuses on legislation, court decisions, legal rights, or how specific laws are interpreted and applied. A gender-and-policy project can look more broadly at government programs, institutional rules, or public policies and their effects on gender outcomes.

2. How can you research gender and media without making the project purely opinion-based?

Choose a specific type of media, time period, population, or set of works and decide what you want to compare. For example, you could examine the representation of women in a particular genre of films over a defined period and identify patterns in the characters, roles, or language used.

3. How can you narrow an intersectional gender studies topic?

Start with one main issue and add one or two specific dimensions of identity or context. For example, you could study gender and race in healthcare in one country instead of trying to examine every form of intersectional inequality at once.

4. Can you combine two areas of gender studies in one research project?

Yes, as long as the connection between them gives you a clear research question. You could study how gender and technology intersect in online harassment, for example, or how gender and education policies affect participation in STEM. If you want help developing an independent research project with a mentor, explore the Lumiere Research Scholar Program.