Women are under-represented compared to men in political science (only economics lags behind us in gender diversity across disciplines in the social sciences). The most recent APSA report on the status of women in the discipline
highlights the methodology section as having the lowest percentage of women, with concerns about mentoring. This
committee seeks to remedy this situation by supporting women doing quantitative research in political science.
The Diversity Committee was formed in 2005 and has been active in encouraging increased participation by women at professional conferences. At the 2006 APSA meeting
we hosted an informal happy hour for women, which was a nice break from the stress of the meeting. In 2006 the Diversity Committee targeted selected
women and invited them to attend the annual summer methods meeting by offering assistance through the NSF grant for their transportation and lodging and waiving the $200 registration fee. Fifteen travel fellowships
were awarded to female scholars to attend the 23rd Annual Political Methodology Meeting at the University of California, Davis. The invitations and travel fellowships allowed junior faculty to list attendance at the
meeting on their vitas. We had a 93% positive response rate to the invitations. A record number of women attended the 2006 meeting, with an inaugural First Annual Women's Dinner hosted by Cindy Kam (Davis) for women
fellows.