{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.024511840465309513, 'fraction_numerical': 0.01703365184877441, 'mean_word_length': 5.8215297450424925, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Building Infrastructure to Enhance Diversity in Political Methodology

Insocial sciences, the underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities in PhD programs has drawn renewed public critique. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show a lack of diversity among graduates in the top political science PhD programs (Roudiez 2020), which is most pronounced in quantitative methodology and formal theory (APSA 2020). What can be done to close this diversity gap, specifically in political methodology? This article describes an effort to diversify the pool of undergraduates interested in pursuing graduate studies in political science by making quantitative social science more accessible to underrepresented minority (URM) students. We recognize that opportunity structures are racialized and gendered (e.g., Beckwith 2015; Jackson 2019; Kenney 1996; Wilson 2007). Thus, we must challenge institutional barriers by engaging “in efforts that recognize the ways in which intersectional forms of oppression manifest in academic spaces” (TormosAponte 2021, 2). Our program follows the blueprints of existing ones designed to increase opportunities for underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students, including the APSA Ralph Bunche Summer Institute and the Visions in Methodology conference (Barnes and Beaulieu 2017). Such programs contribute to the diversity infrastructure (Sinclair-Chapman 2015) in political science by building networks of support and providing valuable training and institutional resources. By partnering with the APSA’s Minority Graduate Placement Program (MIGAP) and engaging in outreach efforts to Hispanic-serving institutions (HSIs), we offered a two-day lab opportunity that builds skills and confidence in data science and shares information on political science research and PhD programs. Dubbed the “Data Lab,” this model fits within the intersectional organizing approach (Tormos-Aponte 2021) and generated positive responses from participating URM students. We believe the keys to the emerging success of this model are targeted recruitment, an inclusive learning environment, institutional and financial support, and the development of ongoing relationships with lab participants. By describing our efforts and the features of the Data Lab, we aim to provide a blueprint to other institutions in hopes that they will create or adopt similar programs.