Do Graduate Student Teacher Training Courses Affect Placement Rates?

We investigate whether the existence of a required graduate course on "Teaching in Political Science'' is related to overall job placement rates reported by graduate political science programs. We examine this in light of evidence from 73 public PhD- granting political science departments across the country. We find that the existence of such courses has a marginally positive effect on placement rates, particularly with regards to the placement rates of lesser ranked research departments at primarily teaching institutions. However, the most consistent predictor of placement rates across all models is the research productivity of the graduate department from which the students received their degree.