The Ford Institute consistently works to conduct rigorous, policy-impactful research on human security topics. It creates programs and events to help promote scholarly research that educates academics and policymakers.
Each year our faculty-led research groups partner with local, state, federal or international entities to pursue research questions and produce analyses on a variety of human security topics.
In August 2015, Pitt faculty began collaborating with UNDP on a global initiative to track gender equality in public administration (GEPA). Through the Ford Institute for Human Security, they co-founded the GEPA Working Group.
- 2021 Global GEPA Report
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The UNDP-Pitt 2021 Global report on Gender Equality in Public Administration (GEPA) provides an overview of key trends and analysis on women’s participation and leadership in public administration, drawing from the Gender Parity in Civil Service (Gen-PaCS) dataset. The report finds that, though there has been progress on women’s representation overall in public administration, persistent gaps remain. Women continue to hit glass ceilings and glass walls that stop them from advancing to positions at the highest levels of power and influence, including in organizations tasked with COVID-19 response. The report also highlights the important ways that gender intersects with disability; race, ethnicity, and indigeneity; age; and other social categories to shape inequalities in public administration. The report closes with practical recommendations to reimagine and redesign more gender inclusive and diverse public administrations.
The report is the product of six years of collaboration between researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and UNDP. At Pitt, the effort has been led by Melanie Hughes and Müge Finkel, and supported through the years by over 100 graduate students from the GEPA Working Group.
The 2021 global GEPA report was launched at, "Where Are the Women?," a virtual side event for the UN High-Level Political Forum in July 2021.
The "Online Violence Against Women in Politics" (OVAW-P) working group started in 2022 as the Ford Institute's first international collaboration, to investigate online hate & harrassment against women in political spaces. Since starting its research, the group has published a national research brief, a research article, and its work has been featured in several news articles.
See our recent news features below:
- Tech Policy Press
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Our Director, Dr. Müge Finkel, and Dhanaraj Thakur, Research Director at the Center for Democracy and Technology, recently co-authored the article “2024 US Election: Women of Color Political Candidates Are Targeted with More Offensive Speech and Hate Speech Than Other Candidates” with Tech Policy Press.
- Hyphen. News
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View Hyphen.'s article "Racist disinformation threatens US democracy" to see our latest research featured.
- The Hill News Feature
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Read the article "Women of Color Running for Congress Disproportionately Targeted by Offensive Speech on X: Report" featuring discussion of our latest study.
The Institute's Affiliated Faculty are engaged in research on a wide range of human security topics. Additionally, once a year a grant is awarded for faculty research to a non-tenured university professor to encourage additional human security research across campus.
Faculty Research Grant Competition:
The Ford Institute for Human Security at the University of Pittsburgh invites non-tenured faculty to apply for its annual Faculty Research Grant Competition, which supports high-quality research in the field of human security. Eligible applicants must submit a five-page proposal addressing a human security issue, with a detailed plan, budget, and optional collaborations. One winner will receive $2,500 in research support.
Recent Winners:
(2026) Dr. Mindy Haas, won the research grant award with her proposal, "Dangerously Provocative: Women’s Movements and the Shadow of Surveillance". Congratulations Dr. Haas! We look forward to seeing the development of this important work!
(2025) Dr. Kimberly Turner, won the competition with her proposal, "The Mass Protest Index". We’re proud to support Dr. Turner’s innovative research and look forward to the impact of this important project.
(2024) Dr. Kay Shimizu, won the competition for her project proposal titled, "Food Security in Japan". We are very proud to support Dr. Shimizu's research!