Learn about the types of people who become political scientists. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.
Employment Type Mix, 2024
67% of political scientists work in full-time roles while 33% work part-time.
Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024
This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a political scientist. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.
More men than women are interested in becoming political scientists at a ratio of 1.60 to 1.
Actual Gender Mix, 2024
56% of political scientists are female and 44% are male.
Gender Bias, 2024
This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a political scientist and the actual gender mix of people in the career.
If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a political scientist and those who end up becoming one.
In this case there are more men interested in becoming a political scientist than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.
Ethnic Mix, 2019
The largest ethnic group of political scientists are White, making up 56% of the population. The next highest segments are Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish and Black or African American, making up 13% and 10% respectively.