Gender-responsive procurement: a systematic literature review

Purpose This paper aims to synthesise the gender-responsive procurement (GRP) literature from a range of academic disciplines and aims to identify the trajectory, methods, country focus and theoretical foundations of research in this area and to generate themes that relate to activities within a model that incorporates macro-environmental as well as buyer and supplier perspectives and the interactions between them. Design/methodology/approach A multidisciplinary systematic literature review was conducted, using the Denyer and Tranfield (2009) approach, analysing 88 peer-reviewed journal articles, and a social dominance theory (SDT) lens was adopted in order to extend the analysis beyond the traditional boundaries of the procurement field. Findings The analysis establishes that there are systemic inequalities in some of the processes and activities that affect women-owned businesses from fully engaging in procurement opportunities and that macro-initiatives have yielded limited and uneven success. The study develops a comprehensive and holistic conceptual framework that integrates multidisciplinary insights and highlights persistent structural and systemic barriers to gender equity in procurement. Originality/value This research contributes a novel, theory-informed synthesis of GRP literature, spanning a range of academic disciplines and using SDT to generate insights into inequities within the procurement field. The conceptual framework and identified research gaps provide a robust platform for future inquiry and practice-based innovation in GRP.