Table 1.

Key Terms and Definitions

Gender: Socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for males and females. The term does not replace the biological definition of “sex,” nor the terms “women” and “men,” but emphasizes the existence of societal inequalities and stereotypes [23, 24].

Gender equality: Individuals that identify with different genders are treated equally and ensuring that they have the same rights, opportunities and responsibilities, equal access to public goods and services, and equal outcomes [25, 26].

Gender equity: Fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men, according to their respective needs. It is considered part of the process of achieving gender equality in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities [26, 27].

Gender pay gap: The difference in the average hourly wage of all women and men across a workforce, as monitored by the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 8.5.1. The gender pay gap is not the same as unequal pay which is paying men and women differently for performing the same (or similar) work [20].

Conflict and Health: Public health impact and responses related to armed conflict and humanitarian crises [28].

Diversity: This includes differences according to gender, age, disability, race, cultural background, sexual orientation, social and economic background, profession, education, work experiences and organisational role [29, 30].

Organisational Culture: shared understandings of the world, of the place of the organisation in the world, and of ‘normal’ behaviour around power, diversity and use of time; shared ways of thinking, feeling and understanding and the subsequent impact on the behaviours of individuals within an organisation, resulting in a collective culture [31].

Humanitarian leadership: Leaders of humanitarian organisations who provide a clear vision and objectives for humanitarian action (whether at the program, organisational or system-wide level) [30, 32].

Motherhood leadership penalty: Mothers with low participation rates in managerial positions [8].

Patriarchy: The structural and ideological system that perpetuates the privileging of hegemonic masculinities. It is a hegemonic system of power relations based on gender norms that establishes the expected roles of men and women. In this system, women and girls have historically, and overwhelmingly, been oppressed, exploited or otherwise disadvantaged. So too have groups who do not conform with gender norms, the predominant binary approach to gender and sexuality, and/or heteronormative expectations. These include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) populations, as well as certain groups of men and boys [33].