Race, Not Gender, Predicts Quantitative Confidence Among Political Science PhD Students

📌 What This Study Looks At:

Most prior work on diversity in political methodology centers on gender and often overlooks racial and ethnic differences. This study examines how race/ethnicity and gender relate to political science PhD students' methodological self-efficacy—especially quantitative self-efficacy—and to their broader academic self-efficacy.

📊 Survey of 300 Top PhD Students:

• Analysis uses survey responses from 300 students enrolled in the top 50 US-based political science PhD programs.
• Outcomes measured include quantitative (methodological) self-efficacy and general academic self-efficacy.
• Statistical strategy compares bivariate and multivariate results while adjusting for program heterogeneity, professional and socioeconomic status, and students' preferred methodological approach.

🔍 Key Findings:

• Race and ethnicity are significantly associated with quantitative self-efficacy: students identifying as Black/African American and as Middle Eastern/North African report lower confidence in quantitative abilities than white students.
• These racial/ethnic gaps persist after controlling for differences across PhD programs, professional status, socioeconomic background, and methodological preference.
• Small gender differences observed in simple (bivariate) comparisons disappear once controls are included in multivariate analyses.
• Differences in quantitative self-efficacy appear to help explain racial/ethnic disparities in students' broader academic self-efficacy.

⚠️ Why It Matters:

The documented patterns of lower quantitative confidence among certain racial/ethnic groups likely contribute to ongoing underrepresentation of marginalized groups in political methodology at both the student and professoriate levels, highlighting the need to address methodological confidence gaps alongside other diversity efforts.