Inside Higher Education reports that according to a recent study by the American Political Science Association, the rates of gender equality among faculty in political science raises many concerns, especially in comparison to other social science disciplines. Their stats show that at every faculty rank, political science still trails sociology when it comes to gender equality:

The report also describes a few factors that might account for the gender disparity:

The report says that these data are particular disturbing because the proportion of new Ph.D. recipients in political science has reached 42 percent, while the percentage of women who are assistant professors has been stagnant for five years and the only growth has come in the lecturer/instructor rank -- off the tenure track.

Women appear to be less happy in political science than are men at all levels of the discipline. In graduate school, men tend to drop out because they aren’t happy about their employment prospects, but women leave because of unfriendly or unsupportive environments, the report says. . . .

A number of the problems cited in the report are similar to problems faced by women in many disciplines. For example, the political scientists note -- as a group from the American Historical Association recently did in regard to that discipline -- that family responsibilities tend to fall more on women than on men. But the report also suggests that political science may have a “one size fits all” approach to research -- and that such an approach may discourage women.

It’s unfortunate to hear that my colleagues in political science seem to have lots of ground to make up, but it is nice to see that sociology has done a good job at achieving gender equality. However, I would like to see similar stats for racial/ethnic equality in social science disciplines.