The Emerging Methodologists Workshop (EMW) intends to contribute to increased diversity in the field of qualitative methodology. Each year, it selects six advanced political science graduate students and junior faculty from underrepresented groups and pairs them with methods mentors, bringing them together to present their methodological contributions during the annual American Political Science Association (APSA) pre-conference. Through this event and others, the EMW fosters the networks critical to enhancing diversity and inclusion.
The discipline of political science faces deep challenges related to diversity and inclusion. While the community of scholars who engage in qualitative and multi-method explanatory research is large and diverse, the group of scholars who develop, write about, and teach these methods is far smaller and more homogeneous. This deficit results, in part, from a “pipeline problem” in which junior scholars from underrepresented groups are not encouraged or actively mentored to become qualitative methodologists. The EMW intends to contribute to building this pipeline.
What We Offer
We aim to build a network of support and mentorship to encourage underrepresented scholars to develop, write, and teach about qualitative research methods and approaches to combining the use of qualitative and quantitative methods. Early-career scholars who are selected to present papers at the workshop receive access to:
1. Intensive Mentorship
Selected participants are paired with senior faculty members who review and assist in the development of their scholarship toward peer-reviewed publication before, during, and after the workshop
2. Pre-APSA conference workshop
Selected participants share their scholarship and receive feedback and support from their peers, their mentor, and other senior faculty members
3. Virtual mini-conference
Selected participants connect across cohorts to share methodological works in progress
4. Ongoing networking opportunities
Selected participants are integrated into the APSA Qualitative and Multi-Method Research (QMMR) section and introduced to new networks of qualitative methods scholars
