Education
She received her Doctor of Philosophy from Stanford University in 2003 and her Bachelor of Arts from Union College in 1997. Both degrees were in political science.
She received her Doctor of Philosophy from Stanford University in 2003 and her Bachelor of Arts from Union College in 1997. Both degrees were in political science.
Lawless was hired at American University in the fall of 2009. Before this, Lawless was employed at Brown University as an Assistant Professor of Political Science. The central focuses of Lawless’s courses and research are women and politics, campaigns, and elections.
Courses she has taught at American University include: "Women & Politics," "Women & Political Leadership," and "Women, Politics & Public Policy." Her research regarding female candidates and election results is published in a number of political science journals, including American Journal of Political Science, Perspectives on Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, The Journal of Politics, Politics & Gender, and Women & Politics.
News outlets regularly quote this scholarship, particularly during campaign season. Her commentary has appeared in newspapers such as, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, United States of America Today and other local publications.
She has also been cited onCNN.com, Microsoft and National Broadcasting Company.com, and FOXNews.com and has published on Cable News Network Opinion on Cable News Network.com. With Richard L. Fox, Lawless is the co-author of three books: "Running from Office: Why Young Americans Are Turned Office to Politics" (Oxford University Press, 2015), "lieutenant Still Takes A Candidate: Why Women Don"t Run for Office" (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and "lieutenant Takes A Candidate: Why Women Don"t Run for Office" (Cambridge University Press, 2005).
She is also the author of "Becoming a Candidate: Political Ambition and the Decision to Run for Office"(Cambridge University Press, 2012), and of multiple Brookings Institution reports, which Emerge America, the Women's Campaign Forum, and other women's organizations that recruit female political candidates frequently utilize for their own work
In 2006, Lawless ran for the United States. House of Representatives in the Democratic Primary in Rhode Island"s 2nd congressional district.
Through her work at the Women & Politics Institute and her position as a board member of Emerge America she remains active in the political arena.