Sociology professors Irenee Beattie and Nella Van Dyke were recently awarded a $50,000 research grant from the prestigious Spencer Foundation. Their project, entitled “Gender Expression, Academic Social Ties, and LGBTQ+ College Student Outcomes,” will be the first to quantitatively analyze a large, representative sample of college students from multiple campuses to consider the ways gender expression, LGBTQ+ identity, and academic social ties jointly influence college GPA across race, class, and gender.
This study will add a sociological perspective on the social consequences of heterosexism in college settings to prior research, which focuses on psychological factors. The grant will fund two graduate student research associates who will assist with the research process over the coming year.
According to the Spencer Foundation web site, "Since it was established in 1971, the Spencer Foundation has sought to support high-quality, innovative research with the potential to improve education… [A] limited number of proposals are funded. We currently receive over 800 proposals per year and have been able to fund roughly 10% of them."
Please join us in congratulating Professor Beattie and Professor Van Dyke on their outstanding accomplishment.
