Bridging the Gender Gap in Green Transitions: Women’s Role in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Innovation

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-575-1_5How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Gender-inclusive innovation; Renewable energy transition; GAD; Sustainability Transition Theory; Empowerment; Climate policy

Abstract

The shift to the low-carbon economy can be understood as an environmental challenge as well as a socio-economic prospect. Nevertheless, gender inequality reemerges in the fields of renewable energy and sustainable innovation systems limiting the roles of women in climate solutions. Most past research on gender inclusion in clean energy has focused on gender; however, few studies have empirically merged gender and development (GAD) with sustainability transition theory (STT) in explaining systemic processes of exclusion.

The following research is aimed at exploring structural, institutional, and socio-cultural obstacles between women and green technology, renewable-energy entrepreneurship, and STEM-based sustainability innovation in India. A mixed-method (design) methodology was applied on the quantitative data collected relating to 180 women professionals and 15 in-depth interviews with policymakers, engineers, and entrepreneurs. Findings indicate that there are significant gender disparities in leadership, capital access and technical positions. Regression analysis revealed that mentorship (0.38, p < 0.01) and institutional support (0.42, p < 0.01) are relevant in making women more active in terms of innovation.

Combining both GAD and STT, the article suggests a Gender-Inclusive Innovation Ecosystem Model (GIIEM), which shows how gender-responsive structures and agency processes can increase innovation capacity and environmental performance. The results underscore the idea that gender-biased participation in the process of designing, governing, and implementing sustainable energy transitions will not ensure their successful completion. The analysis puts forward a new conceptual and empirical framework of gendered transitions on the auxiliary path, respondent to SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jyoti
AU  - Samriti Mahajan
AU  - Praveen Kumar Pandey
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/06
TI  - Bridging the Gender Gap in Green Transitions: Women’s Role in Renewable Energy and Sustainable Innovation
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Dynamics of Environment, Sustainability, and Gender Disparities: A Holistic Dialogue for Inclusive Futures (ICDESGD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 60
EP  - 80
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-575-1_5
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-575-1_5
ID  - 2026
ER  -