
2024 Mariam K. Chamberlain Dissertation Award Winner
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The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2024 Mariam K. Chamberlain Dissertation Award, Deidi Olaya, a PhD candidate in Social Work at the George Warren Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
The Mariam K. Chamberlain Dissertation Award is named in honor of the founder of Re:Gender (formerly the National Council for Research on Women), a U.S.-based gender research institution that merged with ICRW in 2016. Mariam was a leader in shaping and launching the women’s studies academic and research movements in the United States and around the world. Through the Mariam K. Chamberlain Dissertation Award, Mariam’s work fostering high-level scholarship and promoting mentorship continues through its support of a first-generation doctoral student conducting research to advance gender equality and social inclusion.
In its seventh year administering (ninth year overall) the Mariam K. Chamberlain Award, ICRW is proud to honor Deidi, as she moves forward with her doctoral research. Her dissertation, “Bargaining Power, Gender Norms, and Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination of Latin American Countries,” explores the link between gender bargaining power, IPV, and male gender attitudes across Colombia, Peru, Guatemala, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic.
While studies have examined women’s employment in relation to bargaining power or IPV, few have analyzed all three together, especially in Latin America. There is also a dearth of studies that consider the role of male gender attitudes and norms in interaction with women’s resources and paid work relative to their male partners. Deidi’s research fills this gap using innovative approaches and novel measures of gender norms. Her findings can inform policies on women’s economic empowerment, gender equality, and gender-based violence prevention in the region.
Prior to her doctoral studies, Deidi worked with UN Women, Conservation International, and Casa de la Mujer on issues related to prevention of gender-based violence, women’s political participation and the Colombian peace agreement. In the United States, she led statewide and national research projects on sexual violence at the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault at the University of Texas at Austin where she received her Masters in Science in Social Work.
Connect with Deidi and follow her work on LinkedIn.