Taking stock of intersectionality-informed policy guidance for post-pandemic recovery: a scoping review

COVID-19 was a catalyst for popularizing intersectionality, an approach now recognized as central to understanding the inequitable consequences of COVID-19 and as a necessary lens for recovery. Yet, a key question remains: Did the pandemic provide the stimulus for improving or advancing operational policy-relevant guidance for intersectionality? Answering this is critical, given persistent calls for practical policy guidance for operationalizing intersectionality. This article explores this question by first providing a brief overview of intersectionality, including its value-added in relation to equity-promoting public policies. We then summarise how intersectionality was taken up during and post-pandemic, situating these trends within the broader field of intersectionality-informed research and policy. Following this, we present findings derived from a review of guidance for applying intersectionality in the context of COVID-19.

The literature reviewed derives from a larger scoping review (conducted by the authors) of guidance (including tools, guides, and frameworks) intended to facilitate the application or operationalization of intersectionality as relevant to public policy. Inclusion criteria for the scoping review included English language, any date (to end of 2023), presents user-friendly guidance, mentions policy, and contains intersectional* in the title.

Our findings show that despite much discussion on intersectionality in relation to COVID-19 and the increase in intersectionality guidance since the outbreak, little guidance was developed on how to conduct intersectionality-informed analysis in relation to COVID-19 or post-pandemic recovery. Yet, our analysis also shows that the guidance focused on COVID-19 stands out as more robust than the majority of intersectionality guidance produced to date. Specifically, the COVID-19 guidance reflects the foundational tenets of intersectional analysis and action, boosting its potential to capture and address inequities. This is in contrast to the broader scoping review which indicates that most existing intersectionality guidance has failed to do this.

It is pressing that researchers, policy actors and practitioners who seek to take up intersectionality in their work critically take stock of promising practices in intersectionality guidance - exemplified by the COVID-19 guidance reviewed in this article - to strengthen how inequities are captured and addressed.