Research & Publications

Dissertation Project

Margaret’s dissertation project is a study of organizations engaging in “intersectional advocacy,” which is a term she coins to describe a political act of reconfiguring political institutions to meet the needs of a multi-marginalized population. Focusing on groups that are part of the movement against violence she examines how women advocacy organizations represent diverse constituents strategically by straddling different issue domains to address gender violence. In the process she argues that they are reconfiguring the boundaries of policy domains and innovating our political institutions to better serve women who are marginalized across multiple axes of their identities.

In her study of intersectional advocacy, she utilizes qualitative methods to study (1) how representing diverse constituents shapes the development of multi-issue agendas, (2) the types of strategies and compromises organizations engage in to pursue these politics, and (3) how organizational leaders are attempting to restructure political institutions to better address intersecting social issues. The project also relies on quantitative and experimental methods to study the effects of these strategies on constituents and the broader public. In studying the effects on constituents she explores what types of strategies are most effective for mobilizing and maintaining constituent engagement with advocacy organizations. Margaret’s dissertation project provides a robust understanding of how women’s advocacy organizations are presented with a unique set of challenges as they resist traditional policy-making and imagine a new type of politics that centers multiple and marginalized identities. This work is not only relevant for understanding women’s advocacy groups, but also makes substantial inroads in how the discipline studies interest groups, coalitions, policy feedback and organizational advocacy.

Gender & Policy

Margaret with Jamila Michener created a dataset of social and economic policies affecting women; together they conducted an analysis of the impact of these policies on women’s economic positionality by race, ethnicity, and employment status. This analysis can be found in their paper “What’s Policy Got to Do with It? Race, Gender and Economic Inequality in the United States” published by Daedalus. This work has been featured in the Monkey Cage at the Washington Post. They were also interviewed by NPR and MSNBC to speak about this research.

Race & Urban Studies

Margaret with Cathy Cohen and David Knight developed a qualitative project to study the ways in which the urban city of Chicago structured the political lives of young adults differently by class, race and ethnicity. In this project they focused on how neighborhood borders and experiences with the city of Chicago created different opportunities, constraints, and access to power for young people. They produced a public report with top-level analyses that was published and disseminated widely in the Chicago area. Margaret is currently working with Cathy Cohen and David Knight on scholarly papers related to this project; they are currently working papers.

Colleges & Democracy

Margaret with Nancy Thomas led a large scale, national qualitative project on college student political learning and engagement in democracy. Margaret led the process for developing the study, conducting data collection and analyzing interview data with over 500 participants across the country. Margaret and Nancy were able to publish this research in multiple outlets: book chapters, journals, and scholarly articles. Margaret also was part of an effort to create a national database of student voting called the National Study for Learning Voting and Engagement (NSLVE), which is the first national dataset of college student voting. With Nancy and Jodi Benenson Margaret wrote a book chapter analyzing some of the data from this voting project. 

Margaret has also worked on projects at the University of Michigan that focus on how colleges can be more equitable when they are more financially inclusive. With Jon McNaughtan and Betty Overton she conducted a study of Loan Repayment Assistance Programs to understand how these types of programs/ institutional policies positively affect student choice especially among economically marginalized young adults. This study was published by the International Journal of Education Policy and Leadership.

Publications

• Michener, J. & Brower, Margaret T (2020). What’s Policy Got to Do with It? Race, Gender and Economic Inequality in the United States. Daedalus, 149(1).

• McNaughtan, J.L. Brower, Margaret T & Overton, B. (2019). Student Choice and Social Mobility through Institutional Policy: An Examination of Loan Repayment Assistance Programs. International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, 15(16).

• Thomas, N., & Brower, Margaret T. (2018). Conceptualizing and assessing campus climates for political learning and engagement in democracy. Journal of College and Character, 19(4), 247-263.

• Thomas, N., & Brower, Margaret T. (2018). Promising Practices to Facilitate Politically Robust Campus Climates. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 50(6), 24-29.

• Thomas, N. & Brower, Margaret T. (2017). Politics 365: Fostering Campus Climates for Student Political Learning and Engagement: Teaching Civic Engagement across the Disciplines in the Twenty-First Century. Edited by McCartney, Bennion, Matto & Simpson.

• Thomas, N & Brower, Margaret T. (2017). The Politically Engaged Classroom: Teaching Civic Engagement across the Disciplines in the Twenty-First Century. Edited by McCartney, Bennion, Matto & Simpson.

• Thomas, N. & Brower, Margaret T., and Benenson, J. (2016). Political Citizenship: Whether and why college students vote: Why Don’t Americans Vote? Causes and Consequences. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara California.

• Brower, Margaret T. & Benenson, J. (2015). Practicing Democracy in the Classroom: Equalizing Opportunities to Engage with Public Policies and Issues. Diversity & Democracy, (2) 19.