Beyond Good Intentions: Guidelines for Power-Conscious Gender Research by Men Academics

Researchers who identify as men that conduct gender equity research in academic contexts face unique methodological and ethical challenges stemming from their positionality within institutional power structures. This paper presents a theoretically grounded framework for conducting power-conscious qualitative research across gender differences, drawing from both personal experience, and broader literature on feminist methodology, critical theory, and reflexive practice. Through critical examination of how gendered power dynamics manifests in academic settings, research relationships, and intersectional considerations, I develop four key guidelines for ethical research practice: (1) understanding gendered power structures and their effects in academia, (2) building equitable research relationships across power differentials, (3) conducting power-conscious interview practices, and (4) engaging in critical reflexivity about privilege and positionality. Rather than positioning these guidelines as exceptional practices, I argue they represent baseline ethical obligations for researchers working across significant structural power differentials. This framework contributes to methodological literature on conducting ethical research across gender differences while emphasising that power-conscious approaches and critical attention to researcher positionality should be understood as fundamental components of rigorous research design.