Articles by Dr. LaShonda Brenson
Dr. LaShonda Brenson
Pessimism and Hope: A Survey of the Financial Status and Aspirations of Black Americans
For the report, Pessimism and Hope: A Survey of the Financial Status and Aspirations of Black Americans, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and NORC at the…
Joint Center Tracker Update of Racial Diversity of Top Staff Hires in 118th Congress
By LaShonda Brenson Ph.D. and Kimberly Victor There are 1,602 top positions (chiefs of staff, legislative directors, and communications directors) in the personal offices of new and returning members of…
Racial Diversity Among Top Staff in the U.S. House of Representatives
This report, “Racial Diversity Among Top Staff in the U.S. House of Representatives,” provides evidence regarding the lack of racial diversity among top staff in the U.S. House of…
Senate Staffers of Color Earn Less Pay Than Whites
Senate Staffers of Color Earn Less Pay Than Whites Demonstrates Need to Hire More Senior-Level Staffers of Color This week, LegiStorm, a web-based platform that identifies congressional staff,…
Digging Deeper: 2022 Senate Democratic Caucus Diversity Numbers
On July 13, 2022, the Senate Democratic Caucus released an update of its demographic data on Democratic staff (find 2022 numbers here and 2021 numbers here). The analysis below ranks…
Racial Diversity Among U.S. Senate State Directors
Senators and their staff invest significant time and resources providing constituent services in their state offices, so it is essential to understand the demographic makeup of the state directors who…
Recent U.S. House Compensation and Diversity Survey Shows African Americans and Latina/os are Underrepresented Among Senior Roles
African American personal office staff hasn’t significantly changed in two yearsThe House Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI) recently released results from its study on diversity and compensation. The study…
How Well Do Democratic Senators Who Represent Large Populations of Black Citizens Fare in Hiring Black Top Staff?
The overall number of staff of color in Democratic personal offices has increased by 3.4 percentage points from 2020, according to a recent survey released by the Senate Democratic Diversity…
Racial Diversity Among Senate Committee Top Staff
Today, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies released Racial Diversity Among Senate Committee Top Staff. This report provides evidence regarding the lack of racial diversity among U.S. Senate…
Digging Deeper: 2021 Senate Democratic Caucus Diversity Numbers
On July 13, 2021, the Senate Democratic Caucus released an update of its demographic data on Democratic staff (find 2021 numbers here and 2020 numbers here). The analysis below ranks…