Effects of a Women's Mentoring Workshop on Career Outcomes in Political Science, United States, 2018-2025 (ICPSR 39704)

Version Date: Feb 12, 2026

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Principal Investigator(s):
Tali Mendelberg, Princeton University

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39704.v1

Version V1

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Summary

Mentoring programs are widely assumed to benefit women's advancement in professional settings, including political science. However, causal evidence is scarce. The research team conducted a randomized evaluation of APSA's flagship women's mentoring program for PhDs, the most rigorous evaluation in political science to date. The program consists of a workshop followed by periodic small group meetings. The research team randomized applicants to the program or a control group. The researchers administered surveys pretreatment, immediately after the workshop, and 2-7 years after, and collected CV and publications data at each wave. The program was positively rated by participants, and increased a sense of belonging in the profession at year 2, but otherwise had null effects. The results hold when accounting for treatment uptake and strength, for various cohorts and time frames, and on a range of attitudes, behaviors, and publication metrics. More comprehensive reforms may be needed to make a long-term difference for women in academia.

Citation

Mendelberg, Tali. Effects of a Women’s Mentoring Workshop on Career Outcomes in Political Science, United States, 2018-2025. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2026-02-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39704.v1

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Funding

American Political Science Association

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2018 -- 2025

Data Collection Notes

  1. This release is a Fast Track Release and files are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. Users should consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.

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Study Purpose

The purpose of this study was to provide causal evidence to determine whether mentoring programs benefit woman's advancement in professional settings. While participants did report positive ratings regarding the program and increased a sense of belonging in profession at year 2, no other significant events were found.

Study Design

The research team conducted a randomized evaluation of APSA's flagship women's mentoring program for PhDs. The program consists of a workshop followed by periodic small group meetings.

The research team randomized applicants to either complete the program or engage in a control group. Surveys were administered at several waves: pretreatment, immediately after the workshop, and 2-7 years later. The research team also collected CV and publications data at each wave.

Sample

There are approximately four thousand women who are members of the American Political Science Association.

For each workshop, the research team solicited applications from female scholars within five years of receiving their PhD who met certain eligibility requirements (see appendix B of the manuscript).

The researchers then manually constructed blocks of 2-4 eligible applicants using five variables that should predict career advancement: academic position, sub-field or research area, time since PhD, publication score, and departmental ranking (see appendix C of the manuscript).

The research team randomly assigned applicants from each block to participate in the workshop or to the control group. The treatment and control groups took the same post-treatment surveys.

Time Method

Longitudinal

Universe

Women who are members of the American Political Science Association

Unit(s) of Observation

Individual female scholars in political science

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

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Original Release Date

2026-02-12

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Notes