March 5, 2026
Why Women’s representation in Research Matters More Than Ever
This International Women’s Day, we’re reflecting on this year’s theme ‘Give to Gain’.
When women give their time, share their experiences, or take part in research, the gain isn’t abstract. It’s safer treatments. Earlier diagnoses. More effective care, for ourselves and future generations.
At NWEH we believe improving women’s health starts with representation in research. Despite making up half the global population, women remain underrepresented in medical research.
The data shows:
- Only 5–14% of studies break results down by sex
- 80% of animals used in early-stage research are male
- Fewer than half of cell studies even report the sex of the cells used, and when they do, male cells dominate
- Women are 50–70% more likely than men to experience adverse drug reactions
This isn’t a minor oversight. It’s a huge issue with real-world consequences. Claire Williams, our head of pharmacovigilance and regulatory services explains, “Until sex-based analysis is treated as a scientific necessity rather than an added complexity, healthcare will continue to fail half the population.”
We know that disease presents differently in women. We know that treatments can affect women differently. And yet, too often, research design still centres on male biology.
One stark example is the heart rhythm drug dofetilide. Approved in 1999, it took nearly two decades to discover that over half of female patients were effectively being overdosed, increasing their risk of dangerous arrhythmias. In the original clinical trial, women made up less than a quarter of participants.
This pattern is repeated across healthcare:
- Women are more likely to suffer from chronic pain
- More likely to be diagnosed later across hundreds of conditions, including some cancers
- More likely to have symptoms dismissed, misdiagnosed, or under-researched
Even as research into reproductive health has increased, major medical journals show that conditions such as cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, and musculoskeletal disorders, which collectively create a greater health burden for women, remain underrepresented in research.
Closing the gap in the time women spend in poor health wouldn’t just transform individual lives, it could generate a $1 trillion boost to the global economy every year by 2040.
Guidelines that merely encourage diversity in research are not enough. If researchers are not required to analyse outcomes by sex, women will continue to receive treatments that were never properly tested for them.
How you can make a difference:
This is where collective action matters. We are working to reduce gender inequalities in healthcare by listening directly to women. We are gathering experiences through a national survey exploring knowledge of and participation in clinical research.
By taking part, you are helping to shape something bigger. The anonymous insights we collect will inform the development of a national women’s health research registry, designed to strengthen representation in future studies and support proper sex-specific analysis from the earliest stages of research design. If women are embedded at the beginning of research, we can help to close the evidence gap.
Giving to gain doesn’t require extensive input or hours of your time. It can be as simple as:
- Completing our survey
- Joining the women’s health research registry when it launches
- Choosing to give informed consent to share your health data
This International Women’s Day, we’re asking you to be part of the change.
Take part today:
