Women in the Profession: The Composition of UK Political Science Departments by Sex

Abstract

This article outlines the composition by sex of political scientists in the UK. The data show that there are fewer women working in the profession than men and that there is a ‘seniority sex gap’. The data are then broken down in terms of university membership groupings and individual departments in order to produce snapshot rankings. These rankings are then combined to produce an overall ranking of female presence within UK political science departments. Our findings suggest that a ‘leaking pipeline’ persists and that numerical and seniority inequality will continue for a considerable time unless further action is taken.

the status of women in uk political science

“…Bates et al (2012) note that women have been catching up in relation to their presence as postgraduate research students -but it slowly seeps rather than soaks -'If the current rate of progress is maintained, it will not be until the late 2030s that the percentage of female academics in political science is comparable to the percentage of female undergraduate students ' (148-150). Few would be brave enough to predict what UK HE will look like in 15 years' time -in terms of funding, the relationship between research and teaching and the number of institutions and what they are able to offer.…”

“…According to Bates et al (2012), '… 30.8 per cent of political scientists are The 'demographic bias' in respondents -30 per cent were professors and almost a quarter reported an annual income of £60,000+ -means we cannot generalise, but this may in itself speak volumes about workrelated pressures and priorities. Hardpressed academics burdened with class preparation, marking, increased student expectations and publication targets may see questionnaire completion as a frivolous activity.…”

“…As King (2013) notes, there is no national data set that tracks the progress of women through academic grades, nor a National Leadership Development Programme for women with ambition -both are a necessary prerequisite if we are to understand whether the career level disparities observed by Bates et al (2012) are a generational by-product or a more deeply entrenched occupational bias.…”

pursuing the diversity and inclusion agenda: the PSA in the UK

“…There is literature which has mapped the descriptive representation of women in Political Science and sought to explore reasons for women's exclusion (e.g. Akhtar et al, 2005aAkhtar et al, , 2005bChilds and Krook, 2006;Norris, 1990;Bates et al, 2012;Bates & Savigny, 2014). This links to a wider literature on the gendered nature of HE (e.g.…”

introduction: women in european political science

“…With respect to Political Science, there has been both growing recognition of the under-representation of women in the discipline (e.g. Bates et al, 2012), and increasing discussion about the issues that women may face both as political scientists (Karpowitz et al, 2012;Hesli et al, 2012) and in academia more widely (Savigny, 2014). This symposium seeks to contribute to this growing debate about the status of women in the academy by exploring the position of women in European political science.…”