Jacqueline van der Vegte winner of the H.A. Brasz-thesis prize

Van der Vegte investigated how integration consultants interpret and translate policy in their daily work. She not only looks at the actor-oriented factors that influence this, such as competencies, perceptions and preferences, but also combines this with the role of institutional factors, such as the work setting and informal rules. Her thesis contributes to insights into street-level bureaucracy, i.e. civil servants, by developing a new conceptual model for the work of integration consultants. In this model, she shows how diverse policy interpretations and the implementation of policy by civil servants are influenced by work pressure and the use of time, information, expertise, preparation, prioritisation, customisation and routines. The study emphasises that the interplay between policy interpretation and translation is essential to better understand differences in policy implementation by civil servants. 

The jury found the thesis to be of exceptionally high quality, which was particularly evident in the combination of qualitative research methods, the application of classical street-level bureaucracy theory and the readability of the text. With this research, Van der Vegte makes a solid contribution to existing academic, but above all social debates. She was supervised by Ina Radtke. 

The Department of Public Administration congratulates Jacqueline on this wonderful award!