Research Project 

Dr Dalene Duvenage is conducting research that explores the lived experiences and identity negotiations of women who have worked in operational or clandestine intelligence roles. 

Women working in operational intelligence roles perform their duties within environments characterised by secrecy, high risk, and deeply embedded masculine occupational cultures. These conditions shape not only the structure of their work but also their ongoing efforts to construct and sustain coherent professional identities.

This study explores how female operatives engage in identity work to navigate gendered expectations, moral ambiguity, emotional demands, and the dual pressures of public anonymity and organisational visibility. Drawing on theories of identity work, job crafting, and “doing gender,” this research examines the strategies women use to establish legitimacy, cultivate resilience, craft their roles under organisational constraints, and reconcile the tensions between personal values and operational requirements.

Using in-depth, confidential qualitative interviews, the study aims to illuminate the lived experiences of women in clandestine or operational intelligence contexts and to contribute new insight into the gendered dynamics of high-risk, secretive professions. Findings will support more inclusive organisational practices, enhance understanding of operatives’ psychological and professional adaptation, and inform future research at the intersection of gender, intelligence work, and identity.

The results of the study will be published in Aviva Guttmann's (ed) forthcoming book "Women in Intelligence".

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You can read some preliminary findings here.

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