2018-2020 APSA Graduate Placement Survey: Incoming Students Report

The incoming cohorts of PhD students before the pandemic revealed incremental advancement toward a more diverse profession both in the students accepted and in the allocation of funding, the strongest predictor of placement. The 2019-2020 cohort of incoming students was more gender balanced, and women were more likely to receive full funding than men. The rankings and type of institutions students attend, and their own gender, race/ ethnicity, and/ or home country correlate with variations in the levels of funding received, though students generally receive full funding and/or funding for 5+ years. In 2019-2020, incoming doctoral students from other countries were more diverse in terms of gender/ race-ethnicity than those from the United States. While more diverse students attended public institutions than private ones (as opposed to 2018-2019), URMs/ international students at private institutions were more likely to receive full funding than those at public ones.