ComArtSci Alumnx Catherine Davis has been awarded the British Psychological Society's Psychology of Women and Equalities Section Undergraduate Gender Inequalities Award. This highly competitive award recognizes excellent undergraduate student research in the field of feminist psychology. Catherine received the award for the research paper: '“Find what makes you comfortable, find what makes you euphoric”: A Thematic Analysis Centering Trans and Nonbinary Voices in Understandings of Gender Identity Construction.' The research was completed in an upper-level writing course, Introduction to Feminist Research in Psychology: Theory, Methods, and Practice (PSY493), in the Fall semester of 2020.
Catherine, who recently graduated from Michigan State University with majors in Information Science and Psychology, will present the paper at the Section's annual conference, held July 7-9, 2021. In addition, Catherine has been invited to submit the winning paper for publication in the Section's peer-reviewed journal: The Psychology of Women and Equalities Review (POWER).
"I am extremely passionate about feminism psychology, and it is amazing to have the opportunity to contribute to the current research happening in the field," said Davis. "I was able to apply what I've learned from my Information Science classes to this research project that I am so passionate about! This award has confirmed the value of my MSU education and has inspired me to continue research that focuses on social change."
Catherine plans to submit the paper with Dr. Lucy Thompson, who supervised the research project. “I am delighted that we have the opportunity to submit this paper together as co-authors, with Catherine as lead author,” said Dr. Thompson, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology. “It is so important to work collaboratively with students at all levels to ensure their excellent work is appropriately recognized and communicated to broader academic audiences. I am immensely proud of Catherine for this achievement, which is the product of a great deal of hard work and an excellent research project.”