Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women
Background There has been much critical reflection among global health researchers about how power imbalances between high-income countries and low- and middle-income country collaborators are perpetuated through research programmes. Research capacity strengthening (RCS) is considered both a mechani...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2024-12-01
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| Series: | BMJ Global Health |
| Online Access: | https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/12/e015376.full |
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| author | Loraine J Bacchus Nerissa Tilouche Sandi Dheensa Claire Hawcroft Ana Flavia d'Oliveira Beatriz Kalichman Evelina Rossi Heba Owda |
| author_facet | Loraine J Bacchus Nerissa Tilouche Sandi Dheensa Claire Hawcroft Ana Flavia d'Oliveira Beatriz Kalichman Evelina Rossi Heba Owda |
| author_sort | Loraine J Bacchus |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background There has been much critical reflection among global health researchers about how power imbalances between high-income countries and low- and middle-income country collaborators are perpetuated through research programmes. Research capacity strengthening (RCS) is considered both a mechanism through which to redress structural power imbalances in global health research and a vehicle for their perpetuation. This paper examines the RCS programme of a multi-county study on violence against women, focussing on how it addressed power imbalances between countries and the challenges involved in doing so. It provides specific examples and lessons learnt.Methods 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted online with group members from all five countries involved in the collaboration between April and June 2020. Reflexive thematic analysis, with inductive and deductive approaches was adopted.Findings Participants articulated their understandings of RCS as an opportunity for (1) mutual learning, understanding and collaboration and (2) personal and team career development. Participants perceived the RCS programme activities to simultaneously reinforce and challenge power asymmetries within global health research. Power dynamics within the RCS programme operated across three levels; the global health research environment, the research group level and within individual country teams. Participants described structural barriers at all three levels, but felt there were more opportunities to challenge power imbalances at the research group level.Conclusion Despite a strong commitment to addressing power imbalances through the RCS programme, progress was often hampered by the fact that these inequalities reflected broader structural issues in global health, as seen within Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse. The programme sometimes faced tensions between enhancing researchers’ careers while building capacity under the current model and creating social value or challenging epistemic and normative structures. Participants clearly expressed concerns about power imbalances within the partnership and were keen to address them through the RCS programme. This led to a steep learning curve and significant adaptations within the RCS programme to navigate these issues within existing structural limitations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c19190c4b17e494fae96710a12eef789 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2059-7908 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Global Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-c19190c4b17e494fae96710a12eef7892024-12-20T10:20:08ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Global Health2059-79082024-12-0191210.1136/bmjgh-2024-015376Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against womenLoraine J Bacchus0Nerissa Tilouche1Sandi Dheensa2Claire Hawcroft3Ana Flavia d'Oliveira4Beatriz Kalichman5Evelina Rossi6Heba Owda7Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UKFaculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UKBristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKBristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UKFaculty of Medicine, Sao Paulo University, Sao Paulo, BrazilFaculty of Medicine, Sao Paulo University, Sao Paulo, BrazilFaculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UKFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An-Najah National University, Nablus, West Bank, State of PalestineBackground There has been much critical reflection among global health researchers about how power imbalances between high-income countries and low- and middle-income country collaborators are perpetuated through research programmes. Research capacity strengthening (RCS) is considered both a mechanism through which to redress structural power imbalances in global health research and a vehicle for their perpetuation. This paper examines the RCS programme of a multi-county study on violence against women, focussing on how it addressed power imbalances between countries and the challenges involved in doing so. It provides specific examples and lessons learnt.Methods 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted online with group members from all five countries involved in the collaboration between April and June 2020. Reflexive thematic analysis, with inductive and deductive approaches was adopted.Findings Participants articulated their understandings of RCS as an opportunity for (1) mutual learning, understanding and collaboration and (2) personal and team career development. Participants perceived the RCS programme activities to simultaneously reinforce and challenge power asymmetries within global health research. Power dynamics within the RCS programme operated across three levels; the global health research environment, the research group level and within individual country teams. Participants described structural barriers at all three levels, but felt there were more opportunities to challenge power imbalances at the research group level.Conclusion Despite a strong commitment to addressing power imbalances through the RCS programme, progress was often hampered by the fact that these inequalities reflected broader structural issues in global health, as seen within Healthcare Responding to Violence and Abuse. The programme sometimes faced tensions between enhancing researchers’ careers while building capacity under the current model and creating social value or challenging epistemic and normative structures. Participants clearly expressed concerns about power imbalances within the partnership and were keen to address them through the RCS programme. This led to a steep learning curve and significant adaptations within the RCS programme to navigate these issues within existing structural limitations.https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/12/e015376.full |
| spellingShingle | Loraine J Bacchus Nerissa Tilouche Sandi Dheensa Claire Hawcroft Ana Flavia d'Oliveira Beatriz Kalichman Evelina Rossi Heba Owda Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women BMJ Global Health |
| title | Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women |
| title_full | Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women |
| title_fullStr | Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women |
| title_full_unstemmed | Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women |
| title_short | Research capacity strengthening methods and meanings: negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women |
| title_sort | research capacity strengthening methods and meanings negotiating power in a global health programme on violence against women |
| url | https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/12/e015376.full |
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