Author Archive

Rachel Bernhard (DPIR, University of Oxford)

Portrait of Rachel Bernhard

Rachel Bernhard is an Associate Professor of Quantitative Political Science Research Methods at the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) and Nuffield College. In her work, Rachel focuses on appearance-based discrimination in politics, political psychology and public policy, identity politics, statistics and research design, women in politics, and computational methods.

Miniature figure of a female politician on the USA flag

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OxPol Blogcast showcases research, analysis, insights, and experiences from the members of the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), and specialist guests from the Oxford academic community and beyond. Are masculine behaviour and appearance among the prerequisites for electoral success, in line with popular belief? On this episode, OxPol Blogcast host Anastasia Bektimirova is joined by Dr. Rachel Bernhard, an Associate Professor at the University of Oxford’s Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR), to put the view of the political arena as a place favouring conventionally masculine traits to a test. Focusing on the United States, Rachel explains what is understood as masculinity and femininity in political leadership, and guides us through the observed variation in voters’ response to those cues. We also discuss …