August 29, 2025
Today, we're proud to celebrate Meghna Mohandas' latest accomplishment, and one that further illustrates the importance of her research insights.
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning confers her the Marsha Ritzdorf Award for the Best Student Work on Diversity, Social Justice and the Role of Women in Planning.
Meghna's award-winning work in progress
Despite numerous academic advances on how intersectional identities shape distinct urban spatial experiences, housing research continues to be largely grounded in gender and race neutral frameworks that hide critical vulnerabilities. To be recognized by an award that promotes and celebrates planning scholarship on diversity and social justice is an immense validation of my work.
More about Meghna Mohandas
In her doctoral research, Meghna uses qualitative research methods to analyse how power dynamics within landlord-tenant relationships shape rental housing experiences of Indigenous migrant women, and how they navigate and resist their marginalisation in the private rental housing market.
"First and foremost, I want to thank all my research participants. I hope to continue doing justice to the deep, intimate, and violent stories that you have trustingly shared with me. I also want to thank Adovo Medo, Keneinguvou Nagi, Bruce K Thabgkhal and Vezokho Resu – community members from the Northeast - for taking the time and effort to help me recruit research participants. Next, this achievement would have been impossible without the support of my supervisory committee. I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Prof. Malini Ranganathan, Prof. Julia Harten, and Prof. Leonora Angeles for their feedback on this paper, and for their constructive inputs on my doctoral research that have helped me grow as a scholar. Finally, a huge thanks to my friends Dr. Madison Lore, Dr. Keisha Maloney and Anam Bashir for reading this paper and offering comments for improvement."