Pay to Play? How Reducing Apsa Division Fees Increases Graduate Student Participation

Bibliographic Data

ID12377904
AuthorsBailey R Fairbanks (0000-0001-9799-5275, University of Central Arkansas, corresponding author), Fabian G Neuner (0000-0001-9357-0552, Arizona State University), Isabel M Perera (0000-0002-6061-1116, Cornell University), Christine M Slaughter (0000-0002-8733-6708, University of California, Los Angeles)
Year2021
Volume54
Issue4
Pages645-650
Publication date2021-05-14
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePS Political Science & Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-0965 • E-ISSN: 1537-5935
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1049096521000408
OpenAlexW3160793641
LanguageEN
References cited6

In 2017, the American Political Science Association (APSA) Committee on the Status of Graduate Students in the Profession launched an initiative to lower the cost of Division (i.e., organized section) membership for students to promote graduate students’ professional development and to advance Division interests. This article assesses the effect of this intervention on Division membership. Using APSA membership data, we find that almost two thirds of Divisions that charged fees in 2017 reduced or eliminated student fees between 2017 and 2019, nearly halving the average student dues (i.e., from $11.57 in 2017 to $5.84 in 2019). As a result, average student membership increased by more than 300% in Divisions that reduced fees (i.e., from 79.5 in 2017 to 248.7 in 2019), compared to a marginal 30% increase in those that did not reduce fees. These outcomes of the initiative support additional efforts to reduce the costs of APSA participation for graduate students

Division (mathematics · Graduate students · Medical education · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Medicine · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies

Tools

Open DOI