The Women’s and Gender Studies program at the University of South Carolina annually awards scholarships and fellowships for teaching, scholarship and research. Ph.D. candidate Tamara Grimm was recently selected as the recipient of one of the awards.
The Harriott Hampton Faucette Award is designated to assist graduate students with research and professional development that is consistent with the research mission of Women’s and Gender Studies. Their mission is to create or reinterpret new knowledge through the lens of gender and the prism of diversity.
“Winning the Faucette Award is a huge honor because it means the Women’s and Gender Studies Program highly values the quality and direction of my research,” Grimm says. “The program has provided me with so many other valued opportunities, such as knowledge and guidance for grounding my research in feminist theory, excellent mentorship, and a graduate level assistantship which allowed me to pursue my WGST certificate without worrying about the financial impact.”
Grimm’s overall research is gender-related healthcare disparities. Her dissertation research examines psychiatrists' perspectives on the role of physician gender bias on the impacts of anxiety and depression diagnoses in women. The award will fund most of Grimm’s dissertation-related research expenses. Women’s and Gender Studies Professor Drucilla Barker is also on her dissertation committee.
“Most women I have talked with about my research have a story about being misdiagnosed with a mental health disorder after seeking care for a different complaint,” Grimm says. “Hearing these stories just added fuel to my passion since the rate at which women are offered antidepressant and antianxiety medications is an often-overlooked problem.
The equally important flip side to this problem is that men are often underdiagnosed and undertreated for mental health problems. I want my research to illuminate disparities to help providers and patients understand the role of gender bias in diagnostic decision making and treatment.”