Diana Da In Lee

Hi! I'm a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at Columbia University. My research interests lie in American local politics, identity politics, and political methodology. My substantive research focuses on social identities and their impact on minority representation in U.S. politics. I'm also interested in solving methodological problems such as improving external validity in empirical analyses and applying machine learning methods to solve measurement problems. My work has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as The Journal of Politics, Urban Affairs Review, and Nature: Scientific Data.

My dissertation, supported by an APSA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant, focuses on the candidate emergence process among ethnoracial minorities in the U.S., examining the full pipeline to power from the initial spark of interest to officially becoming a candidate. In collaboration with a non-profit organization, I conducted field and survey experiments to explore factors that impact minorities' decision to run for office in a real-world candidate recruitment effort, where I test existing theories and contribute novel insights on minority candidate emergence.

Prior to my PhD, I received a Master of International Affairs at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and worked as a principal consultant at an economic consulting firm, conducting econometric analysis for antitrust litigation and class certification.