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APSA Diversity Programs

The American Political Science Association has established several major programs whose goal it is to enhance diversity within the discipline and to help identify and aid students and faculty of from under-repesented backgrounds in the political science discipline. These programs include:

• Minority Fellows Program, which is a fellowship competition designed to increase the number of minority Ph.D.'s in political science and to encourage institutions to provide financial assistance to them.
• Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI), which is an annual five-week program designed to introduce minority students to the world of graduate study and to encourage application to Ph.D programs.
• Minority Student Recruitment Project (MID), which is a collaboration of undergraduate programs and graduate schools in political science created to identify undergraduate students from under-represented backgrounds who are interested in, or show potential for, graduate study and, ultimately, to help further diversify the political science profession.

Grants, Fellowships, Scholarships and Funding Resources for Diversity and Minority Scholars 

Search among APSA and non-APSA sources for grants, fellowships and scholarships available to those interested in political science related opportunities and graduate programs.

• Political Science Grants, Fellowships, Scholarships and Funding
• Minority Scholar Resources

APSA Mentoring Initiative

APSA has also developed a mentoring program to connect interested undergraduate, graduate students, and junior faculty to those faculty members in the field who are available for mentoring on professional matters. For a more information on the APSA mentoring program and other mentoring resources please visit the following site:

• APSA Mentoring Initiative

APSA Task Force on Political Science in the 21st Century

Is political science positioned to embrace and incorporate the changing demographics, increasing multicultural diversity, and ever-growing disparities in the concentration of wealth present in many nation-states? Can political science do so within its research, teaching, and professional development? These two questions were the focus of the work of the Task Force on Political Science in the 21st Century. Read the full report:

• APSA Task Force on Political Science in the 21st Century

APSA Status Committees

APSA Status Committees develop and promote agendas and activities concerning the professional development and current status of under-represented communities within the political science discipline. For listing of all APSA committees, includint the standing committies, please visit the

• APSA Committees page

APSA African American Political Scientist Oral History Project

The African American Political Scientists Oral History Project contains interviews conducted between 1988-1994 of African American scholars and was part of the Pi Sigma Alpha-APSA Oral History Project directed by Malcolm E. Jewell and supported by Pi Sigma Alpha, APSA, the University of Kentucky, and the Ford Foundation. The advisory committee of the Black Oral History Program consisted of Twiley Barker, Jr., William Daniels, Jewel Prestage, Michael Preston, Mitchell Rice, and Maurice Woodard with contributions from Mae C. King. The collection is offiicially housed at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky.

• African American Political Scientist Oral History Project