EAGER: Advancing Women in Political Science

American Political Science Association, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Women comprise an unusually small percentage of tenured faculty in political science programs -- especially programs at research intensive institutions -- relative to the number of women who received PhDs in political science and who serve as assistant professors. This underrepresentation carries over into important aspects of their professional careers. For example, women authors tend to publish less frequently in top field journals, find their work cited less frequently, and are often evaluated differently than men across a range of indicators. This project seeks to identify the set of factors that help to explain why women are underrepresented in political science and to devise a mentoring program to assist women early in their careers. To do so, they propose to conduct a cohort study of individuals who attended graduate school in the 1990s. Next, they will administer a survey to learn more about perceptions of scholarly journals and publication success. Finally, they propose an experimental mentoring program to identify the most effective strategies for promoting success for female scholars in political science. The research team is comprised of a number of successful scholars, most of whom are women, and will have the support of the American Political Science Association in helping to administer the studies and implement the mentoring program. This project examines the factors that lead to the significant underrepresentation of tenured women in political science. The percentage of women with tenure is lower than one would expect given the number of female PhDs and assistant professors. The proposal sets out to accomplish two things: evaluate factors that hinder the advancement of women in political science and generate evidence-based strategies to develop successful mentoring programs. A diverse team of accomplished scholars has been assembled to conduct this research. The project consists of three components. First, a team will conduct a survey to evaluate respondents' attitudes toward journals and perceptions of success with a particular focus on notable differences across an array of respondent characteristics. Second, they will conduct a cohort study comprised of individuals who entered graduate school in the 1990s and are currently mid-career scholars. Third, they will implement a randomized experimental mentoring program to assess the relative success of competing interventions. The project will work in conjunction with the American Political Science Association, thereby increasing its reach and enhancing the likelihood of increasing the number of tenured female scholars in political science. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.