Asha Singh

I am an interdisciplinary researcher whose work spans energy transition, energy resilience, low-carbon energy innovation, bioeconomy, sustainable cooling, and gender. My long-term research interest lies in the nexus of international development, energy, and gender. I am currently working at the Centre for Sustainable Cooling at the University of Birmingham as a Research Fellow, using a whole system approach to identify the current and future challenges of the cooling sector. Under the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-chain (ACES) in Rwanda, I am involved in clean cooling research and capacity-building efforts aimed at enhancing sustainable cold-chain infrastructure, which is inclusive and equitable.

My PhD focuses on how energy transition is working as a catalyst to close the gender gap by creating spaces for women to engage in entrepreneurial activities within the energy system. I am particularly interested in understanding how post-structuralist perspectives help in exploring the production and reproduction of power relations in the entrepreneurial process. Additionally, I want to explore how feminist approaches can be used to highlight the discursive biases that overlook women’s economic contributions in the energy sector, as entrepreneurs and innovators, while often framing them solely as end-users, customers, or beneficiaries. Through my PhD research, I aim to understand how women’s active participation, decision-making, and leadership roles in energy technology and product innovation and diffusion can serve as a means of economic and social legitimation.