Each year, the Sociology Department gives out four awards. One is for the undergraduate student paper written that year which demonstrates exceptional research and writing. This year, Alexis Pantoja-Gonzalez was selected to receive this award for her paper, "Gendered Disorders: An Analysis of the Impact of Gender Norms on Mental Illness Prevalence." 

"I worked very hard on this research paper, I'm so grateful to be acknowledged for it. It was a process I really enjoyed, since I discussed topics I felt passionate about. Throughout my life, I've witnessed the ways gender ideology has shaped experiences with emotion. When I thought of this paper topic, I thought of those who were affected by gender stigma in ways that prevented them from asking for help and of those being affected by mental illness at very high rates. It's important to explore mental illness prevalence through gender ideology because it provides a different perspective with possible solutions to these issues." - Alexis Pantoja-Gonzalez

Click here the abstract of the paper, and the full award description.