Mirya Holman

Expertise: Women and politics, local politics, research methods and environmental politics, gender and political ambition, women mayors, sheriffs, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, sexism, children’s political attitudes and actions, pathways to political office

Career Highlights:

Mirya Holman is an associate professor in public policy at the Hobby School of Public Affairs. Her research interests focus on women and politics, local politics, research methods and environmental politics. In her book "Women in Politics in the American City," she examines the effect of women mayors and city council members on urban politics. In "The Power of the Badge: Sheriffs and Inequality in the United States," (coauthored with Emily Farris), she investigates the power of sheriffs and how this power produces inequality. She also edited a volume on gender and political ambition: "Good Reasons to Run." She writes a newsletter addressing academic success.

Holman has been widely public in academic journals and the popular press, including NPR, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, the New York Times and the Washington Post. She responds to media requests on the topics of women mayors and sheriffs, Hilary Clinton's 2016 campaign, sexism and other issues where her research intersects with newsworthy matters.

Currently, she is researching locally appointed boards and commissions, conflict in school boards, the role of elections as a tool for holding elected officials accountable for their actions, and the pathways to office for women. Her research uses various advanced methods focusing on geographic, experimental and survey research.

Holman received her Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in American politics and public policy and her bachelor's degree from Loyola University New Orleans in political science and history.