We’re delighted to announce that Angel Gandhi, from Prabhavati Padamshi Soni International, has won the 2024-25 BSA Young Sociologist of the Year Competition. Their application was supported by sociology teacher, Ami Rami. Angel has won an iPad for herself and £500 for the school. Read the winners announcement below.
The winning essay answered the question: ‘To what extent and in what ways have social media changed people's lives?’
The judges said, ‘This is a very engaging essay combining personal reflections, insights from sociological literature, social theory and original research to provide a discussion of contemporary social media use. It considers social media as a presentation of self and utilises a Goffmanian analysis. The writer considers the complexities of social media in terms of its potential for structuring the development of living a double-life and engages with ideas of misinformation and how this might relate to self-formation. Overall the judges were impressed by its originality and thoughtfulness.’
This year’s competition received entries from 119 students. Due to the high volume of entrants received again this year, we had four BSA members volunteer to judge alongside the two BSA trustees. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all six judges who worked together to review all the entries.
The judges were impressed by considering social media from a sociological perspective and the entries were wide ranging in their focus. Particularly strong entries had a coherent structure, were writing in an engaging style, and offered novel insights into the topic while utilising a clear theoretical lens.
The judges would like to acknowledge second and third place entries and those who made their shortlist:
2nd Place Luna Pracy - Glenthorne High School
3rd Place Luka Benjamin Theo Wallis - The Warriner School
Shortlist: Daisy Britton - Rainham Mark Grammar School Lucy Elliott - Richard Huish College Charlie Peter Krelle - Christleton High School Ava Lewer - Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Hannah Mills - Loughborough College Ava Ormerod - Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Meghna Patel - Loughborough College Monish Phoolwani - Kings School Al Barsha Sasha Taylor-Davies - Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School Pengruizhe Laka Zhang - Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School
Download Read Angel's Essay.
Brought to you by the British Sociological Association