The WomanStats Project | WPS Research By Faculty | WPS Capstone Research Projects
The WomanStats Project
The WomanStats Project is the research arm of the WPS Program, and a very active arm it is (http://womanstats.org). Currently funded through the Minerva Initiative of the US Department of Defense, the linkages among marriage patterns, marriage market obstruction, and national security are being investigated. This specific project is part of a larger research agenda investigating the relationship between the security, situation, and status of women and the security of the states in which they live. The WomanStats Database is a key go-to source for information, with data on over 350 variables for 176 countries (all those with a population of at least 200,000). Reference Reviews says about the database, “If I could only introduce gender and women’s studies students to one international source, this would be it.” Researchers on the Project include outstanding scholars from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Turkey, and Colombia who are publishing in the top academic journals and presses in their fields.
In addition, every year the WPS Program sponsors a capstone research project for Bush School students. For example, in 2018 the team’s client was the State Department’s Office of Global Women’s Issues; and their project was on the linkage between gender and the production of foreign fighters for ISIS. Click here for their final report on “Gender, Terrorism, and Foreign Fighters.”
WPS Research by Affiliated Faculty
Information coming soon.
WPS Capstone Research Projects

Technological Threats: How Online Harassment of Female Political Figures Undermines Democracy
- Team Members: Madeleine Songy, Madeleine Pelton, Olivia Cretella, Areala Mendoza, Kathryn Hopp, Olivia Jackson, and Ailyah Banks
- Client: Office of Global Women’s Issues at the US State Department

Fall 2020: Increasing Women’s Participation in Uniformed Law Enforcement
- Team Members: Anita Mitic, Ashley Justynski, HyuonJung Noh, Nereyda Ortiz, Mary Bowman, Sydney Harkrider, Taryn Williames, Vesa Bashota
- Client: Office of Global Women’s Issues at the US State Department



Spring 2020: Understanding Successful Legal Reform for Women’s Economic Empowerment
- Team Members: Anna Akhmetova, Lauren Chilton, McKinzie Davis, Shelby Eckhardt, Katherine Krehmeier, Tessa Pennington, Eric Washington
- Client: Office of Global Women’s Issues at the US State Department


Is Investing in Women’s Economic Empowerment an Investment in National Security and Stability?
- Team Members: Gabriela Hernandez, Emily Jensen, Kelli Meyer, Hope Valle, Lindsey Wilkerson, and Rachel Xiao
- Client: Office of Global Women’s Issues at the US State Department


Gender, Terrorism, and Foreign Fighters
- Team Members: Kayla McGill, Ashley Lovell, Sarah Ascol, Wiam Ayachi, Emily Pagrabs, and Ryan Yandell
- Client: Office of Global Women’s Issues at the US State Department