Kelly Dittmar

Kelly Dittmar is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University–Camden, Director of Research, and Scholar at the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She is the author of Navigating Gendered Terrain: Stereotypes and Strategy in Political Campaigns (Temple University Press, 2015), as well as multiple book chapters on gender and American politics. Dittmar’s research focuses on gender and American political institutions, including Congress, with a particular focus on how gender informs campaigns and the impact of gender diversity among elites in policy and political decisions, priorities, and processes.

Dittmar was an American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellow from 2011 to 2012, where she served as a legislative aide on education, labor, social welfare, and women’s issues. She previously worked as a Federal Legislative Assistant for Governor Jennifer Granholm (MI).

At CAWP, Dittmar manages national research projects, helps to develop and implement CAWP’s research agenda, and contributes to CAWP reports, publications, and analyses. She also works with CAWP’s programs for women’s public leadership and has been an expert source and commentator for media outlets including MSNBC, NPR, Huffington Post, and the Washington Post. She currently serves on the editorial board for Politics and Gender and is a board member for Women Under Forty PAC.

Dittmar earned her B.A. from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI and her Ph.D. from Rutgers University-New Brunswick.