Dr. Reese, Dr. Warner chosen to present research at international conference

Feb. 12, 2010 -- Two Arkansas State University Political Science faculty members have been chosen to present their research at the 5^th International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences in Cambridge, England, August 2-5.

Dr. Catherine C. Reese, associate professor of Public Administration, and Dr. Barbara Warner, visiting assistant professor of Public Administration, plan to present a paper on “Pay Equity for Women: Why Does the United States Lag So Far Behind Other Countries?”

The research they will present is focused on the fact that despite legal changes, such as the passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, median full-time annual earnings for women are still 77% of men’s, indicating that systemic progress is lacking. The United States ranks only 31^st in the Global Gender Gap 2009 rankings published by the World Economic Forum, behind such countries as Latvia, Lesotho, and Mongolia.  The authors plan to survey members of the U.S. Congress, leaders of major U.S. women’s groups, and executives of U.S. Fortune 500 companies to assess why they believe the United States continues to lag behind numerous countries in the gender wage gap.

Dr. Reese teaches public budgeting and finance, public human resources administration, public policy, and state and local government courses. She received her PhD from the University of Georgia in 2005 in public budgeting and finance, public policy, and public administration. Her research interests include state- and national-level public policy and women’s issues. Her previous research has been published in the journals Public Administration Review, Politics & Policy, and Public Budgeting & Finance. She also co-authored a book chapter in the forthcoming “Handbook of Human Resource Management in Government.”  Dr. Reese’s recent research also includes how tobacco settlement funds are used by the states.

Dr. Warner teaches courses in U.S. and comparative politics, public administration, legislative processes, environmental policy, women in politics, and public policy. Her research interests include presidential war rhetoric, including how presidents try to talk us into war.  She graduated from the University of Arkansas in August 2009 with a PhD in public policy. She earned her Master of Science in Journalism from the University of Kansas and a Master of Arts in Government from Johns Hopkins University. For the past six years, she has also written columns focusing on political and cultural issues. Her monthly columns appeared throughout northwest Arkansas in the Northwest Arkansas Times, the Benton County Daily Record, and the Siloam Springs Herald Leader.  She has won 45 writing awards in her journalistic career, which included working for the Associated Press and the Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal.

The 5^th International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences addresses interdisciplinary practices across the social sciences, and between the social sciences and the natural sciences, applied sciences, and the professions.  The conference will include plenary speakers from among some of the world’s leading thinkers in the sciences, as well as numerous paper, colloquium, and workshop presentations. 
--Molly Carpenter, senior public relations student intern in the Office of Public Relations, researched and wrote this release.
 

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