PS: Political Science & Politics
Where You Go, What You Do, Who You Are: Predictors of Political Science Job-Market Outcomes, 2023–2024
2026-09-08
Several studies have found that only graduates of top-ranked PhD programs have a reasonable chance of landing a tenure-track professorship. However, these findings are based on an examination of the backgrounds of current faculty at PhD-granting institutions, which leaves findings vulnerable to several types of bias. I address these limitations by analyzing the placements of political science PhD candidates during the 2023–2024 academic job-market cycle. In my analysis, departmental rank had virtually no impact on whether candidates found tenure-track assistant professorships, but it did predict the types of positions that candidates found. Other factors had stronger associations with placement outcomes. In particular, publishing solo-authored and coauthored articles, having underrepresented minority or female identity, and studying American politics were all associated with significantly higher placement rates.