Psychological research on gender is a highly interdisciplinary and contested field. This globally expanding area examines how gender interacts with different domains of experience—culture, biology, technology, economics, politics, and development— across diverse societies. Moving beyond earlier frameworks focused primarily on women’s rights and inequality (first and second wave feminism), contemporary scholarship increasingly emphasizes intersectionality (third wave), global and postcolonial perspectives (fourth wave), masculinity studies, digital media, AI, and developmental systems approaches that link social environments with neuroscience, epigenetics, and cultural change. The field is also shaped by major debates over identity, populism, family structures, and the impact of technological transformation on human relationships and social institutions (fifth wave and beyond).

Identity development is a complex process, and our identities transform as our sense of self evolves with the changing times. Currently, at the forefront of politics, Indian and American female leaders have risen to global leadership. Both of these women, Kamala Harris and Droupadi Murmu, with diverse racial backgrounds, navigate their identity differently. While some openly discuss their heritage, others choose to address it more subtly, focusing primarily on their policies and achievements without emphasizing their race. The diversity in identity formation reflects how female politicians approach gender and feminism through a global intersectional lens.

In a chapter in the new book, Global Perspectives on Gender, my colleagues Britt Romagna, Zara Lowenthal and I attempt to conceptualize women’s lives in the context of global........

© Psychology Today