Research Bio

Amanda Clayton is a political scientist whose research focuses on the causes and consequences of gender inequality in politics. She examines how institutional reforms — including gender quotas — affect who is elected, how policy is shaped, and public trust in government. Using experiments, surveys, and comparative analysis, Clayton investigates public attitudes toward women in leadership. Her current work examines gender differences in attitudes towards climate change worldwide. Her work informs global efforts to design democratic institutions that promote inclusion and equality. 

She is a professor of Political Science at UC Berkeley. At Berkeley, she teaches and mentors students in comparative politics and political behavior, emphasizing rigorous empirical approaches to studying representation and reform. She is a co-founder and director of the Empirical Study of Gender (EGEN) Research Network, which works to build women’s power in academia and improve society’s understanding of gender inequality.

Research Expertise and Interest

gender and politics, women's political representation, politics of climate change