Dr. Laura Dean named AABS Emerging Scholar
Dr. Laura Dean, assistant professor of political science at Millikin University, has been awarded a 2019 research grant from the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS). Dr. Dean is one of only three emerging scholars to receive a 2019 research grant from the AABS.
The AABS awarded Dr. Dean a $2,000 grant for her proposed research project titled "Gender dynamics both feminist and anti-feminist in Latvian politics." Dr. Dean will be working on the project during her sabbatical in spring of 2020. She will travel to Latvia to research parliamentary dynamics and gender dynamics with women.
"Latvia has more women now than they ever had in parliament," said Dr. Dean. "Latvia recently held an election in October and now 31 percent of the members of parliament are women. In one election, women parliament members in Latvia went from 18 to 31 percent. I'm going to look at why that is."
Latvia ranks 126th out of 193 countries around the world for the percentage of women in parliament, while also ranking 20th out of 144 countries in the Global Gender Gap Report. Dr. Dean says Latvia ranks high on these gender equality indices because it has had both a female president and prime minister. There has been some fluctuation with women's representation in parliament in past years, with the figure as low as 8 percent in 1995 and as high as 21 percent women in 2002 and 2011.
"Latvia is also one of few countries in the world to have more women than men (54 percent)," said Dr. Dean. "I'm going to look at why the selection was such a banner for women. I'm also going to look at the gender dynamics. For example, are women interrupted more often than men? Are women only on the women's issue committees? It makes it an interesting country to research."
Founded in 1968, the AABS promotes research and education in Baltic Studies by sponsoring meetings and conferences, supporting publications, sustaining a program of scholarships, grants and prizes, and disseminating news of current interest in Baltic Studies. The primary function of the AABS is to provide an open forum where scholars can present their views on all facets of inquiry connected to Baltic Studies.
A country of 2 million people, Latvia recently celebrated 100 years of independence. Dr. Dean plans to be in the country for six to seven months. "It's good immersion, I'm excited," she said. "What I think might happen is that we will see more women in parliament but we won't see more women in leadership roles."
Dr. Dean's research interests combine her intellectual background in comparative politics, public policy, women's studies, and Russian, East European, and Eurasian area studies with issues of morality policy. Her research examines how moral issues such as trafficking, prostitution and sex tourism fit real world patterns of policymaking in the international context in democratic, authoritarian and semi-authoritarian states. Her research also centers on the broader political science themes of government responsiveness and capacity with policy adoption and implementation with different regime types.
Dr. Dean's research has been supported by the American Association of University Women, Social Science Research Council, Fulbright Program, Rotary Foundation, and appeared in The Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Human Rights Review, Journal Teorija in Praksa and Femina Politica, the Feminist Journal of Political Science. In summer 2016, she was a Title VIII Summer Research Scholar at the Kennan Institute as part of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
At Millikin, Dr. Dean is the adviser of the Model United Nations Club, a member of the Gender Studies Committee and the Leadership Planning Committee.
Dr. Dean graduated from the University of Kansas in 2014 with a Ph.D. in Political Science. She also has a Graduate Certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (2013) and a Master of Arts in Political Science (2011) from the University of Kansas, a Master of Arts in International Studies focusing on Russian, East European, and Central Asian Studies (2006) from the University of Washington, and a Bachelor of Arts in World Politics (2003) from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.