2024 Catt Prize funds four projects

CATEGORIES: Catt Prize

Four research projects have been awarded the 2024 Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics. The projects, selected through a blind-review process, will each receive $2,500 in funding.

“Once again, we had many meritorious applications. These four projects stood out for their creativity and importance,” said Karen M. Kedrowski, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, which sponsors the annual awards.

The Catt Prize, established in 1994 through private donations, has supported 148 projects with a total of $176,000 in awards, including this year’s winners.

Prize winners for 2024 are:

Jasmine English, a post-doctoral fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, for “Carceral Political Discussion: Gender, Race, and Punitive Experiences of Government Welfare Programs.” The study examines how gender and racial identities shape the prevalence and political correlates of discussion about punitive experiences of programs like Child Protective Services and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The award will be used to fund a survey.

Christina Fattore, a professor of political science at West Virginia University, for “Miss Americana and the Vice President: The Influence of Celebrity Endorsements and Virtual Fandom Engagement on Women’s Political Efficacy.” The study examines whether online fandoms can increase women’s political efficacy and lead to more female participation and engagement with U.S. politics. The award will be used to purchase a MacBook Pro and a year-long subscription to N-Vivo.

Xiaoxia Huang, Ph.D. candidate in political science at Syracuse University, for “Women Rise but Men Still Reign: Civil Service Reform and Gender Inclusion in China.” The study examines the representational effects of meritocratic hiring in China, resistance to meritocratic reform, and representation in the civil service and Chinese politics. The award will be used to cover travel expenses to complete field work in China and attend conferences.

Lü Pin, Ph.D. candidate in political science at Rutgers University, for “Resistant Resilience in the Age of Escalating Repression: Understanding the Dynamic of China’s Feminist Movement in 2013-2023.” The study examines how the feminist movement in China adapted to survive and expand its influence despite facing state repression during the first decade of Xi Jinping’s rule. The award will be used to conduct in-depth interviews with Chinese feminist activists who are currently based in Europe.

Iowa State faculty members serving on the 2024 Catt Prize selection committee were Scott Feinstein, Jonathan Hassid, David Peterson and Mack Shelley, all with the Department of Political Science; Carrie Ann Johnson, Women’s and Gender Studies Program and Catt Center; Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, Department of History; Kelly Shaw and Amy Erica Smith, Department of Political Science and Catt Center; Alisa Stoehr, Women’s and Gender Studies Program; Kelly Winfrey, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication and Women’s and Gender Studies Program; and Kedrowski. Also serving on the committee was J. Cherie Strachan, professor of political science and director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. The committee was assisted by Melissa Martin, administrative assistant for the Catt Center.