Author Profile

Matthew Woessner

Matthew C. Woessner (Ph.D., Ohio State, 2001) is an associate professor of political science and public policy at Penn State Harrisburg. His research and teaching interests include political behavior and research methodology. His most recent article, recently presented at the American Enterprise Institute, is titled "Left Pipeline: Why Conservatives Don't Get Doctorates." The research explores competing theories for why ideological conservatives are less likely to pursue a Ph.D. than are their liberal counterparts. The final version of the manuscript will appear in the forthcoming book, Reforming the Politically Correct University.

Woessner coauthored two recent articles on politics in the classroom. The first, titled "My Professor is a Partisan Hack: How Perceptions of a Professor's Political Views Affect Student Course Evaluations," appeared in the July 2006 edition of PS: Political Science and Politics. The second article, "Conflict in the Classroom: Considering the Effects of Partisan Difference on Political Education," will appear in a forthcoming issue of The Journal of Political Science Education. Woessner's research has also appeared in Presidential Studies Quarterly, Politics and Policy, the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice and the International Journal of Police Science & Management. His work on politics in academia has been profiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Wall Street Journal. Woessner currently serves as president of the faculty Senate as well as the advisor to the Penn State Harrisburg College Democrats and College Republicans. His wife and research collaborator, April Kelly-Woessner, is an associate professor of political science at Elizabethtown College.