Dr Nerea Okong'o

Gender, elitism and difference

My PhD research contributes to the area of gender integration and African feminism - elitist feminism. It is conceptualised through a feminist political ecology framework and based on empirical work on black women working in the extractives industry. By contextualising black women’s experiences, this research challenges the retrogressive discourses that define, shape and influence the way elite black women are engaged in cultural, social, political and economic processes of extractive industries- recognising that these industries are male, white and foreign.

Open research and data

I have developed a key interest in FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible Interoperable and Reusable). I have worked as a research assistant on FAIR data and software where I sought to understand how researchers employed FAIR principles in their work and how the university could support researchers to make their research data and software more open.

Research culture and collaboration networks

This research seeks to understand how academics collaborate across the Faculty of Social Sciences and how this translates into more grants and better research outputs.