
Pro-White hiring bias for NFL head coaches, analysis finds
Writing in the Washington Post, Rochester political scientist Bethany Lacina shows the degree to which Black coaches are underrepresented in the NFL.

Oscars seek to increase diversity with newly proposed rules. Will it work?
In an analysis for the Washington Post, Rochester political scientist Bethany Lacina and student Ryan Hecker ’23 offer a spoiler alert.

NFL owners are now willing to support players’ protests
“[T]he National Football League’s newfound appreciation for its players’ civil rights gestures is likely to be tested by the election season and by fans’ spending power,” says political scientist Bethany Lacina.

Why are ‘Oscars so white,’ not just on stage but online?
In an analysis for the Washington Post, Rochester political scientist Bethany Lacina finds that, in whiter media markets, people seek out personal information about actors of color less.

Online trolls keep largely mum for latest Star Wars movie
With a fast-paced plot and more conservative themes, The Rise of Skywalker avoided the online trolling that greeted its predecessor, argues associate professor of political science Bethany Lacina in the Washington Post.

Conservative audiences no less interested in Captain Marvel
“The myth that female- or minority-led films struggle at the box office has been debunked again,” writes Bethany Lacina, an associate professor of political science, in an analysis for the Washington Post.

White fans like white NFL players more and black players less since anthem protests
Writing in the Washington Post political scientist Bethany Lacina shows how the gap in the popularity of black and white NFL players with white fans has increased since 2016.

Can Twitter ‘sockpuppets’ actually get you fired?
A Twitter spat ended up causing a science fiction writer to lose his job. Rochester political scientist Bethany Lacina used data science to show how the incident was in part fueled by bots and “sockpuppets.”

Fan hate takes aim at Star Wars diversity
In an analysis of thousands of tweets from Star Wars fans, associate professor of political science Bethany Lacina found that offensive language doubled and hate speech jumped by 60 percent when those tweets were directed at actress Kelly Marie Tran or her character Rose Tico, the first nonwhite female lead character in the franchise.