NEWS

Christina Boyd

William A. Owens Creative Research Award

christina boyd

Christina Boyd, Thomas P. and M. Jean Lauth Professor of Political Science, is one of the nation’s most important scholars researching diversity in the courts. She has published 34 refereed journal articles and two books, including “Supreme Bias: Gender and Race in U.S. Supreme Court Confirmations” (Stanford University Press, 2023). In “Supreme Bias,” Boyd and her co-authors examine the dynamics of gender and race at Supreme Court confirmation hearings held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The authors use extensive new data and qualitative evidence to highlight how female nominees and people of color nominees have faced significantly more challenges during the confirmation process than their white male colleagues, revealing that race and gender bias exist even at the highest echelon of U.S. legal power. With rigorous and empirically credible research, Boyd also has explored how judicial diversity, like gender and race, shapes some judicial outcomes and processes.