Three projects led by researchers from iHC win the awards for the best Bachelor's Degree Final Project with a gender perspective for the 2024-2025 academic year
The award-winning projects analyze topics as diverse as gender bias in the care of polycystic ovary syndrome, the pathologization of queerness over the past 50 years, and the history of the pathologization of femininity.
Last Wednesday, April 22nd, the UAB Awards for the Best Bachelor's Degree Final Projects (TFG) with a Gender Perspective Best Final Degree Projects (TFG) with a Gender Perspective for the 2024-2025 academic year were presented. These awards, now in their tenth year, pursue a dual objective: on one hand, to sensitize students to gender equality and non-discrimination by fostering their interest in critical and committed research; on the other, to promote the incorporation of a gender perspective in university teaching and consolidate gender as a legitimate and necessary object of academic and scientific interest across the UAB. Among the 32 winning projects, spanning a wide range of disciplines, three were supervised by researchers from the iHC.
Desmontando el sesgo de género en el manejo del síndrome de ovario poliquístico. Una campaña de divulgación científica y social para visibilizar y educar ("Debunking gender bias in the management of polycystic ovary syndrome: A scientific and social outreach campaign to raise awareness and educate") is the work that Marta Ortuñez Rojo, a student of the bachelor's begree in biomedical bciences, has carried out under the guidance of iHC researcher Anyely Marín Cisneros. This critical and accessible outreach strategy aims to bring polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a highly prevalent but often overlooked disorder, closer to the university community. To advance towards better PCOS care by highlighting socially ignored aspects, Ortuñez has developed and disseminated a series of audiovisual materials and organized—and evaluated—an in-person workshop. These initiatives have allowed her to question the current approach to PCOS and promote a comprehensive understanding of its physical, endocrine, and psychological implications.
Cuerpos para odiar: Vestigio biomédico de la patología de lo queer del franquismo en la actualidad en España (1970 - 2025) ("Bodies to hate: Biomedical vestiges of the pathology of queer identity from Francoism in contemporary spain (1970-2025)") is a work developed by Alex García Arranz, a student of the bachelor's degree in medicine, and directed by Sandra Guevara, a researcher at the History of Medicine Unit. This qualitative study, based on interviews, analyzes how the mechanisms of pathologization, stigmatization, and oppression of queer identities that operated during the Franco dictatorship remain present in the current biomedical model and affect the health and well-being of dissident realities. Through this research, García questions the hierarchical pillars upon which the biomedical system rests in terms of legitimizing the sex-gender system and argues for the need to envision a new, truly egalitarian and universal model.
In her project La patologització de la feminitat: de la histèria al trastorn límit de la personalitat ("The pathologization of femininity: From hysteria to borderline personality disorder"), the student of the bachelor's degree in psychology Gisela Martín Cerrillo has analyzed, under the supervision of iHC researcher Mònica Balltondre, the history of the pathologization of femininity through a comparative study of hysteria and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Using a biopsychosocial model, the work explores the role of psychiatry as a tool of social control over women, reinforcing gender stereotypes and roles throughout history. By analyzing the experiences of women labeled or diagnosed with hysteria and BPD in different eras, the study reveals how their expressions of distress have been medicalized and silenced. In conclusion, Marin argues for the need for a thorough revision of the biomedical model with the integration of a feminist and contextualized perspective that recognizes female suffering as a legitimate response to oppressive and unequal social structures, and not as pathological deviations.
Congratulations to all the winners!