As part of the Gender & Energy Task, two Masters Theses have been completed.
The first one is Mapping the Mindsets of Dutch Municipal Workers on Mitigating Energy Poverty in the Gender-just Transition: An exploratory Q study. This study aims to illuminate policymakers’ mindsets about energy poverty in the Netherlands on a municipal level and build a data-supported bridge between the complexity of energy poverty and the argument for gender-just policy. It uses Q methodology to group municipal policy workers’ mindsets into institution-focused and explorers. Short-term, these mindsets pinpoint bottlenecks in municipal energy poverty mitigation. Long term, the mindsets uncover subjectivity in the policy cycle and present a transparent method to use in other parts of the energy sector. This work was also presented at a public seminar.
The second, Refracted Reflections: Perceptions of Gender Inequality in Dutch Energy Organisation, explores the refracted reflections of gender inequality among employees in Dutch energy organisations by examining the metaphorical prisms formed by societal, organisational, and individualistic aspects. This multi-dimensional analysis seeks to identify aspects contributing to gender inequality, to show the interdependencies of the issue, and to highlight potential intervention points for implementing change while considering the dynamic interaction between the prisms and personal factors.
Read the report: Refracted Reflections: Perceptions of Gender Inequality in Dutch Energy Organisation , Mallant, K., master thesis done as part of the UserTCP work.
Both Master Theses were supervised by Task member Marielle Feenstra, Senior Researcher Gender, Innovation and Energy Transition, 75inQ.