IRSPM O’Leary prize and Routledge lifetime achievement award 2025 - Winners announced!
Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends,
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the IRSPM Rosemary O’Leary Prize and IRSPM Routledge Prize for 2025!
The IRSPM Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Brint Milward, the Melody S. Robidoux Foundation Leadership Chair at the University of Arizona, is the recipient of the IRSPM 2025 Routledge Lifetime Achievement Award. This award honors scholars with sustained contributions to public management research. Milward’s distinguished career spans over 45 years and has been acknowledged for its significant impact on the theory and practice of collaboration, networks, governance, and contracting out. A prolific author, his work has garnered over 15,500 Google Scholar citations. His long-standing involvement with IRSPM includes serving as North American Editor for Public Management Review for 12 years and as a conference plenary speaker. Milward will present on his life's work at the IRSPM conference in Bologna, Italy, in April. More about his career can be found here.
We are pleased to announce two “best article” winners of the 2025 IRSPM Rosemary O’Leary Award for excellent scholarship on women in public administration. Nominated articles were evaluated using the following criteria: significance, excellence in writing and communication, scholarly innovation, rigor, and implications for policy and practice. The following authors will present their award-winning research at the upcoming IRSPM conference in Bologna, Italy, in April.
Pascale-Catherine Kirklies, Oliver Neumann, and Lisa Hohensinn co-authored Promoting Digital Equality in Co-Production: The Role of Platform Design, published in Government Information Quarterly. As governments increasingly use digital platforms for citizen participation in public services, research shows these initiatives do not reach all societal groups equally. The authors examined gender and platform design's impact on participation through a survey experiment in Zurich, Switzerland. Using social identity theory and research on gender-inclusive language, they tested five platform designs with varying visual and verbal elements. Their findings demonstrated that small design changes could enhance women's engagement and identified the most effective gender-neutral option. Their study updates empirical evidence on digital inequalities in citizen co-production and offers valuable insights for public service providers aiming to create more inclusive digital platforms.
Maayan Davidovitz and Rachel Gali Cinamon co-authored Lack of Gender Representation in Academia: The Experiences of Female STEM Students, published in The American Review of Public Administration. Drawing on representative bureaucracy theory, they examined how majority-group (male) faculty members interact with female STEM students in Israeli academic institutions. Through interviews, they found that male faculty often exhibit discriminatory behavior, which not only offends female students but also signals to male students that such treatment is acceptable. These dynamic fosters insecurity among women and negatively impact their educational experience. The authors argued that passive representation alone is insufficient in public organizations. In fields dominated by men, majority-group faculty members must actively create a fair and equitable environment for female students. Their study highlights the need for systemic changes to ensure gender equity in academia.
The Award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, 9 April at 13:30.
The IRSPM board congratulates the winners for their outstanding contributions to research in our field!
We are very much looking forward to seeing you all during 7 - 9 April in Bologna!
Sincerely,
Ileana Steccolini, President, IRSPM
Rosemary O’Leary, Chair of the 2025 O’Leary Award Committee