Trends in Funding for Dissertation Field Research: Why Do Political Science and Sociology Students Win So Few Awards?

Despite the size and growth of political science and sociology relative to other disciplines, political science and sociology graduate students have received a declining share of funding for dissertation field research in recent years. Specifically, political science and sociology students are losing out to competitive applicants from humanities-oriented fields that provide strong training in area studies and language.These trends are explained by multiple factors. On the funding demand side, changes in graduate training within political science and sociology are undermining students’ ability to conduct contextual work, thus leading to lower quality applications. On the funding supply side, the structure of selection committees may be privileging certain disciplines and approaches. We offer suggestions on how to begin reversing these worrisome trends in dissertation funding. Doing so is crucial to ensuring the continued participation of political scientists and sociologists in international comparative research. Political science and sociology are large and rapidly expanding disciplines. The number of graduate students requiring funding for degrees in political science grew by 35% from 16,445 in 2001 to 22,243 in 2005, whichwasmore than double the rate of growth in any other discipline. By 2005, political science had the second largest number of students seeking funds in social science after psychology.1 The number of graduate students requiring funding in sociology grew by 8% from 6,725 in 2001 to 7,234 in 2005, making sociology graduate students the fourth largest group seeking funds in social science.2 Among political scientists and sociologists, a significant number have long conducted comparative and area studies research. Therefore, it is surprising that in recent years, despite the rapid growth in and size of their graduate programs, political science and sociology students have received a small and declining share of funding for dissertation field research. Specifically, political science and sociology students appear to be losing out to applicants fromhumanities-orientedfields such as anthropology, history, religion, and ethnomusicology. Such trends are worrisome, because they undermine the influence that political science and sociology will have on future comparative and area studies research. Moreover, these trends challenge the original impetus of area studies as an interdisciplinary endeavor that spans and integrates multiple methodological approaches and theoretical premises. What explains these trends and how can we facilitate greater success in gaining funding among political science and sociology graduate students? This article draws on data from three major funders—the Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays program, the Social Science Rina Agarwala is an assistant professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University. She is the co-editor (with Ronald Herring) of Whatever Happened to Class? Reflections from South Asia (Routledge 2008) and the author of many articles on women’s autonomy and informal workers’ organizations, which have appeared in Social Forces,Theory and Society, Critical Asian Studies, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and Research on the Sociology of Work. Her current research includes thepolitical economyof informalworkers in India and transnational labor organizations in South Asia. EmmanuelTeitelbaum is an assistant professor of political science and international affairs at GeorgeWashingtonUniversity. During the 2009–2010 academic year, he is serving as a Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace. His current research focuses on class conflict in South Asia and the comparative political economy of labor. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................