A scoping review of women's experiences and barriers in automated vehicle research.

Abusafia, AHA; Soro, A; Schroeter, R · 2025 · PubMed Central

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0331402

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Summary

This scoping review addresses the underrepresentation of women in automated vehicle (AV) research, a gap that risks perpetuating gendered inequalities in mobility. While AVs promise enhanced transportation, evidence suggests women exhibit lower acceptance and higher safety concerns compared to men. The authors argue that current research often treats gender merely as a demographic variable rather than centering women’s specific mobility needs, such as caregiving roles and multi-stop trips. The study aims to map how women’s experiences and barriers are represented in existing literature and to identify factors influencing their engagement with AVs. The authors conducted a systematic scoping review following the Arksey and O’Malley framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines. They searched Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed studies published between 2016 and April 2025. Inclusion criteria required studies to focus on SAE Levels 3–5 automation, involve human participants, and explicitly analyze gender as a key variable. After dual screening and quality appraisal using the QATSDD tool, 34 studies were included. The authors employed thematic analysis to synthesize findings, coding studies across five high-level themes with high inter-coder reliability (Cohen’s Kappa ranging from 0.71 to 0.96). The review reveals a critical methodological gap: most included studies rely on quantitative, mixed-gender approaches, with limited use of qualitative or participatory methods. Consequently, women are rarely positioned as primary users or co-creators in AV design. The analysis identified key barriers to adoption, including safety concerns, emotional comfort, and design exclusion, which are often overlooked in generic user models. To address these findings, the authors introduce the WISE-AV Framework (Women-Informed Socio-Ecological Framework). This model maps influences on women’s AV engagement across five levels—individual, interpersonal, institutional, community, and policy—and integrates feminist Human-Computer Interaction principles to emphasize transparency, participation, and embodied experience. The study concludes that AVs can only fulfill their potential for safer, smarter mobility if they are designed with the diverse realities of women in mind, rather than for a generic user. The WISE-AV Framework provides a roadmap for researchers, designers, and policymakers to create more inclusive systems. By prioritizing women’s specific needs and concerns, the authors argue that the field can move toward socially equitable autonomous mobility, ensuring that technological advancements do not reinforce existing gender disparities in transportation access and trust.

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Topics

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• acceptance adoption
• sex gender

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• Empirical Findings: self report data
• Synthesis & Review: research agenda