Military gender advisors, organizational change, and transformational opportunities: the discrepancy between policy and practice

Military Gender Advisors (GENADs) are an increasingly common feature in global armed forces and military operations. Their role is designed to operate at the strategic level of military organizations to the facilitate implementation of the United Nations Women, Peace, and Security agenda. Despite an overarching policy framework and official discourse that value and support their work, GENADs face significant challenges that undermine their ability to succeed in their roles. This article employs a feminist institutionalist lens to investigate the disconnect between policy and practice, and draws from empirical qualitative data gathered from in-depth interviews with serving and former military GENADs and other stakeholders across twenty-one countries. The article argues that despite strong rhetorical support and a visible global policy framework underpinning the work of GENADs, institutional practices informed by normative assumptions about gender, women, and militaries undermine the effectiveness of the GENAD capability. Through this investigation, this article contributes to conceptual and theoretical understandings around gender-responsive transformation within the organizational and cultural practices of militaries.