Gendered pathways in agrarian innovation: How women and men navigate innovation in declining rural territories in Spain

Agrarian innovation is increasingly understood as a context-dependent process, yet how gender influences the ways in which women and men pursue innovation remains insufficiently understood. This article addresses this gap by examining four interrelated dimensions—motivations, support networks, legitimacy and structural constraints—and how their interaction relates to different innovation orientations. The analysis draws on the Spanish Living Lab of the European GRASS CEILING project (2023–2025), covering declining rural territories in northern Spain. Based on questionnaires, individual interviews and focus groups with women and men agrarian innovators and institutional stakeholders, the study adopts a qualitative comparative approach. The findings show that gender does not produce entirely separate innovation pathways. Women and men share a strong orientation towards product, production and technological innovation, as well as many motivations, support networks and structural constraints. However, women engage in a broader range of innovative activities, particularly diversification and social and relational innovation, while clearer gender differences emerge in legitimacy, particularly in recognition by others, and in the ways some support networks are mobilised. Overall, the findings suggest that gender shapes innovation not as an isolated determinant but through its interaction with the conditions that configure actors’ room for manoeuvre.