RESUMO
PIP: Research into ways to plan and implement development projects that acknowledge and respond to their differential impact on men and women has increased, but promising approaches to enhancing women's quality of life have been obscured 1) the increasing gap between scholars and practitioners and 2) a view of women that excludes considerations of family and community. While scholars emphasize the differences in gender roles, practitioners seek similarities and parallels. The situation is also complicated by the rapidity of economic change and its differential impact on women. The women's studies scholars hired as consultants by development agencies are hampered by ethnocentric biases because most of their work pertains to the US, and there are only a few courses available in the US on the topic of "Women in Development." The Ford Foundation is trying to mitigate this situation by funding a project to integrate a consideration of Women in Development and gender into international studies curricula. A resulting reexamination of the theoretical constructs involved has led to recognition of the problems connected with incorrect use of the term "gender." This incorrect use arises from translation difficulties and from a failure to include issues involving males and females. Scholarship that focuses on individual women and ignores the role of women in families and communities is rooted in the extreme individualization of Western culture and is inappropriate for analysis of relationships in developing countries.^ieng