Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2006
Ph.D.-granting institutions want students to complete their doctoraldegrees. Most graduate departments in political science focus theirtraining on preparing students to pursue academic careers. Weprovide valid and reliable empirical data about the factors thataffect students' prospects for successfully completing politicalscience doctoral degrees and finding academic jobs. Because NationalScience Foundation data (2002, Table 53) reveal significantdifferences in the number of doctoral degrees awarded to womencompared with men, we test a series of hypotheses based on theexisting literature that may account for these differences. Ourpaper applies knowledge gained from previous studies, such as in thearea of mentoring (Wasby 2001; Andersen 2001; Benesh2001), to explain observed gender differences in doctoraldegree completion and success in gaining academic employmentthereafter.The research wascommissioned and funded by the Executive Council of the MidwestPolitical Science Association; additional funding was providedby the department of political science at the University ofIowa. Barbara Burrell of Northern Illinois University oversawthe data collection for round two of the panel study. KimberlyM. Lewis of the University of Iowa provided researchassistance.