My research objective is to create institutions that are more reflective and representative of Canadian society. I have two main goals: first, to develop research-driven responses to political inequality, racism and misogyny, and second, to train and support a new, more diverse generation of social scientists.
My work is multi-method, and I use content analysis, interviews, experiments, and survey data as my primary methods. I am particularly drawn toward research that requires the construction and analysis of original datasets. Whether it is sifting through thousands of media articles, conducting more than 100 elite interviews, compiling comprehensive data on more than 4,000 electoral candidates, or coding the gender and ethnicity of thousands of political donors, I love work that presents data that is fresh but time-consuming to collect and which involves student researchers in the creation of new knowledge.
Recently, I was awarded a Partnership Engage Grant to work with Operation Black Vote Canada to better understand the participation of Black Canadians in electoral politics.
My book, Framed: Media and the Coverage of Race in Canadian Politics, received the 2017 Donald Smiley Prize, which recognizes the best book published in Canadian government and politics. I am the co-editor of six additional books, including the most recent, Women, Power, and Political Representation. Peer-reviewed articles appear in Electoral Studies, Politics & Gender, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Canadian Journal of Political Science, and other outlets.
I have been lucky to work with excellent collaborators on a number of projects. My research is supported by the Canada Research Chairs program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
My research occurs in four main streams:
Political representation
This research focuses on the political representation of race and gender, primarily in Canada. This work is institutionally oriented and traces patterns of inclusion and exclusion.
Race and gender in elections
This stream examines the impact of race and gender on elections and explores issues related to vote choice, political participation and electoral behaviour.
Media coverage
In this stream, I answer questions about how the media cover issues related to race, immigration, and multiculturalism.
Diversity in political science
The fourth stream looks at diversity in political science, with a focus on how questions related to gender, race, and Indigeneity are taught and communicated.
I have a number of projects in progress. These include:
- Working with Operation Black Vote Canada to chart Black Canadians’ electoral participation
- Investigating how gender affected vote choice in the most recent Canadian elections
- Researching the links between race, gender and online harassment of electoral candidates
- Examining how negative group-based rhetoric influences the attitudes and participation of racialized and ethnic minority voters
- Tracing how Canadian political parties have addressed immigration issues from 1967 to present
- Cataloguing the representation of Indigenous peoples in political science textbooks
New research
Intersectionality and candidate recruitment
Research examining how race, gender, and intersectionality shape candidate recruitment
Gendered perceptions of mayoral candidates
Voters' assessments of mayoral candidates are shaped by stereotypes about their trait and issue strengths
Who ran and won in 2021?
Results from a new analysis of diversity in the 2021 Canadian federal election
Women, power and political representation
Women, Power, and Political Representation named a Hill Times Best Book of 2021
How diverse is Canadian politics?
Introducing a new dataset on the demographics of more than 4,500 federal election candidates
Gender and donations in Canadian elections
We examine more than 1 million donations to Canadian parties and federal candidates over a 25-year period