Rachel Bernhard

Rachel Bernhard is an Associate Professor of Quantitative Political Science Research Methods at Nuffield College and the University of Oxford. She previously served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Davis. Her research focuses on gender discrimination in politics, voter biases, electoral success of women candidates, and political ambition. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, and was a Postdoctoral Prize Fellow in Politics at Nuffield College.

Before graduate school, she worked in public health and education. Her teaching includes courses on political psychology, public policy, identity politics, and computational methods. She is currently working on a book project exploring appearance-based discrimination in politics.

Her research interests span gender studies, electoral politics, and experimental methods. Recent work examines voter heuristics, ballot order effects, and the structural obstacles faced by women in politics. She has collaborated on projects analyzing housing displacement, climate policy, and urban sprawl in California.

Outside academia, she enjoys reading fiction and non-fiction, traveling, and outdoor activities. She has no scientific awards listed but is actively engaged in policy-relevant research.