Frequently Asked Questions:
Requests for rapid research are exclusively available to U.S.-based women’s funds and foundations within the WFN membership.
You can request a report by simply filling out the request form. The information will be sent to IWPR and WFN. You will be contacted with timing, confirmation, and any questions.
The rapid response research products will be delivered in a one- to two-page brief or fact sheet. Our request form allows you to request research that is tailored to meet the specific needs of your intended audience.
- A general state fact sheet (e.g., status of women in South Carolina);
- A thematic fact sheet of one to two pages (e.g., women’s political participation in Los Angeles County);
- A specific population you would like us to focus on (e.g., Native American women in Wyoming) as a short brief; or
- A short research response to a quick question on a topic area, without formatting.
Please note your interest in a larger report at the end of the request form. We will track emerging trends to evaluate capacity for a larger report or additional research project. Further bespoke research will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis and will carry additional costs, starting at $7,000.
We hope you will use research in a way that is responsive to your context and emerging policy issues in your community. This research is designed to provide the evidence base to drive change across sectors. We hope it will be useful in your fundraising, community education, and policy advocacy efforts. We invite you to draw on this research to support your work to build power and economic equity for all women.
IWPR is committed to intersectional research approaches and knows that general data cannot speak to all women’s experiences. You may request a particular intersectional lens of interest and we will do our best to add information (when available) on the experiences of a variety of diverse communities.
Each eligible Women’s Funding Network member can request one research item from March 2022 to March 2023. Requested materials can range from one to three pages per product. Members can submit additional requests and these requests will be managed and approved by WFN. Larger deliverables will need to be coordinated individually and may require additional funding.
This is a partnership between the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the Women’s Funding Network.
Fact sheets can be written in two to three weeks. Smaller requests can be completed in 3-5 business days. Research requests will be addressed in the order that they are received. If many requests are received within a specific period, funds will be contacted about changes to timing.
You will receive logistical information about your request and a timeline of delivery within an estimated three business days of submission.
IWPR will not produce original data for rapid research requests. Instead, WFN members can request data on any of the existing IWPR Status of Women in the States indicators (e.g., poverty & opportunity), using a compilation of publicly available quantitative data. Requests for qualitative data will be considered on a case-by-case basis with IWPR.
This project does not include original data and research inquiries are limited to completed survey research from IWPR’s seven theme indicators: employment & earnings, health & well-being, political participation, poverty & opportunity, reproductive rights, violence & safety, and work & family. Generally, IWPR will provide state-level aggregate data based on U.S. Census data and other available information. In limited cases, IWPR can generate more specific data. This might include county- or city-level data, or a specific, intersectional focus on a particular community. These requests may take more time and are dependent on the existence of available datasets for analysis. This data is dependent on the location and on the rigor or accessibility of American Community Survey (ACS) data. We will supplement government data with other third party, reviewed sources.
Research can be requested on seven topics in which IWPR has existing research expertise: (1) employment & earnings, (2) health & well-being, (3) political participation, (4) poverty & opportunity, (5) reproductive rights, (6) violence & safety, or (7) work & family. Organizations can then specify indicators within each topic area. The data is largely quantitative. Qualitative data must be coordinated on a case-by-case basis with IWPR. Accessibility to some indicators vary by state and year.
Political Participation: Voter registration and turnout, women in elected office, and women’s institutional resources.
Employment & Earnings: Earnings and the gender wage gap, women’s labor force participation, and gender differences across occupations.
Work & Family: Paid leave laws and paid sick days, elder and dependent care, state and local laws to support caregivers at work, mothers as breadwinners, child care, the gap in mother’s and father’s labor force participation rate.
Poverty & Opportunity: Access to health insurance, education, women business owners and self-employment, women’s poverty, and economic security.
Reproductive Rights: Access to abortion, the Affordable Care Act and contraceptive coverage, Medicaid expansion and state Medicaid family planning eligibility expansions, other family planning policies and resources (such as infertility access), fertility, natality, and infant health.
Health & Well-Being: Chronic disease, sexual health, mental health, limitations on women’s activities, obesity and healthy weight, preventative care, and health behaviors. Limited state data on maternal mortality.
Violence & Safety: Intimate partner violence and abuse, rape and sexual violence, safety and violence among teen girls, stalking, violence and harassment in the workplace, and human trafficking. (Access to the quality of this data is dependent on the state.)
The audience is unique to your goals in your work to win power and economic equity for women and girls. Audiences might include policymakers in your state, prospective funding partners, or nonprofits working on issues related to women’s issues or gender equity. You will be able to specify the tone and audience for the research product in the request form. This research is designed to be responsive to your needs, so please give us context information in your request form to adjust our work.
This is a partnership between the Women’s Funding Network (WFN) and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR). IWPR will respond to rapid research requests, which must be submitted through the request form.
If you have specific questions, please email info@genderpoint.org. WFN and IWPR will work together to identify trends and evaluate member needs for additional services. WFN members are responsible for submitting their own research requests directly via the form.
The Gender Point is powered in partnership by the Women’s Funding Network and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
