Dawn Moffat McMaster
Affiliations
Ph.D Candidate
Contact information
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Background
Biography
Dawn Moffat McMaster is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Calgary. Her work focuses on the growing influence of the nonprofit sector in electoral politics and political institutions. Her dissertation investigates the nonprofit sector as a pipeline into electoral politics at all levels of government, especially for women. Prior to returning to school, Dawn taught political studies at Northwest Polytechnic in Grande Prairie, AB. She led community-focused research projects and provided regular political commentary to local media. Dawn sees community engagement as fundamental to the role of academics in public life, and this informs both her academic and civic practices.
Projects
My dissertation research investigates whether nonprofit sector employment increases political engagement, with particular attention to electoral politics. I examine whether work in the nonprofit sector increases rates of political candidacy and overall electability in Canada, and whether the nonprofit sector produces more electoral diversity, given the overrepresentation of women and racialized, gender diverse, and queer people.
Building on an original dataset of elected officials and political candidates across levels of government, this project analyzes how sector employment influences both the supply of potential candidates, demand from political parties, and electoral success. Preliminary findings suggest that nonprofit work does not function as a gender equitable pipeline: women with nonprofit backgrounds are underrepresented relative to men.
By integrating sector employment into theories of diverse representation, this research advances understanding of gendered and intersectional barriers to representation, in addition to the key role the nonprofit sector plays in the everyday politics of the Canadian governments and citizens.
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