Towards an Ontology for Safe Gender-Aware Business Process Management

This paper introduces an ontology for safe gender-aware business process management, addressing the need to incorporate gender equity within business processes in alignment with the principles of Industry 5.0 and Safety-II. Traditional business process management (BPM) has predominantly focused on optimizing performance metrics such as cost, time, and error reduction. However, with the advent of Industry 5.0, a paradigm shift is occurring where social, environmental and safety factors are becoming equally important alongside technological advancements. In this context, gender equity emerges as a critical component of social sustainability yet remains largely unexplored in BPM research and practice. To bridge this gap, we propose an ontology that defines key concepts, relationships, and principles for developing safe gender-aware business processes. Drawing inspiration from the Gender Innovation Approach and recommendations from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the ontology includes concepts describing foundational principles for safe gender-aware BPM. These principles aim to ensure that business processes integrate gender equity, justice, and safety while maintaining efficiency and effectiveness. A safe gender-aware business process not only acknowledges gender diversity but leverages it to enhance process innovation, performance, and safety. Our ontology further identifies the phases of the BPM lifecycle modeling, design, analysis, and reengineering, where gendered assessments can be applied. Additionally, it includes concepts to represent indicators to assess whether a business process is gender-aware and safe or requires reengineering to meet gender equity and safety-II standards. Ultimately, this ontology provides a basis for businesses to assess their processes and initiate necessary changes, fostering inclusive safety participation and aligning with Industry 5.0’s goals of accessibility, sustainability, and efficiency.