• M.A. and Ph.D., University of California, Irvine 
• B.A., Arizona State University, Summa Cum Laude 

Becki Scola joined the Saint Joseph’s University faculty in the Fall of 2009.  She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine in 2009, her M.A. in Social Science from the University of California, Irvine in 2004, and her B.A. in Women’s Studies from Arizona State University in 2001.  Her dissertation work investigated the effect that institutions have on women’s legislative representation across the fifty United States. Specifically, she analyzed the variation in the level of representation among white women and women of color state legislators.  Her research interests include American institutions, gender politics, and race/ethnic politics, and her work has been published in the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy and Gender and Politics.  She is currently working on a national survey of women state legislators as well as a project that examines the effect that women’s representation has on voter turnout across the states.

INTRODUCTORY COURSES POL 111 Introduction to American Government & Politics syllabus An introduction to the theory and process of democratic government in the United States. Emphasis is placed on an examination of the relationships among American values, politics, governmental institutions, and public policy.

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS COURSES POL 323 Women, Gender, and American Politics  syllabus This course is designed to provide students with a critical examination of women as political actors. We will analyze various forms of women's political participation, both in the traditional spheres of what is considered politics -- women as voters and politicians -- and also in more "non-traditional" spheres of political activism.  We will examine how women are mobilized to participate in politics, focusing keenly on the differences among women in their political activism in an effort to understand how the intersection of gender, race, class, sexuality, age, and ability influence women's political activism.

The primary goal of this course is to familiarize students with key issues, questions, and debates in the women and politics scholarship, mainly from a U.S. perspective. Students will become acquainted with many of the critical questions and concepts scholars have developed as tools for thinking about the gendered political experience. In this course you will learn to "read" and analyze gender politically, exploring how it impacts our understanding of the political world.

POL 308 Congress and the Legislative Process Examines the legislative process in the U.S. Congress with emphasis on the internal workings of the institution such as committees, parties, and rules.

POL TBA Minority Politics This course will study how different minority groups engage the political system, from the mass level to the elite level.

Articles in Refereed Journals

Scola, Becki. 2006. “Women of Color in State Legislatures: Gender, Race, and Legislative Office Holding.” Journal of Women, Politics, and Policy 28(3-4).

Also published in Intersectionality and Politics: Recent Research on Gender, Race, and Political Representation in the United States, Carol Hardy-Fanta, ed. New York: Haworth Press, 2006.

García Bedolla, Lisa and Becki Scola. 2006. "Finding Intersection: Race, Class and Gender in the California Recall." Politics & Gender.

Book Chapters

Scola, Becki. and Lisa García Bedolla. 2005. “Race, Gender and the Recall Vote.” In Shawn Bowler and Bruce Cain, eds., Clicker Politics: The California Recall Election. New York: Prentice Hall.

Book Reviews

“Women and Social Movements.” 2006. Journal of Women, Politics,