Law and/or Graduate Student - Part-Time Research Assistant

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Approval of remote and hybrid work is not guaranteed regardless of work location. For additional information on remote work at Penn State, see Notice to Out of State Applicants.

JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS

The Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education is seeking a law and/or graduate student research assistant to support a project to create a database cataloguing state immigration policies across the United States from 1989-2026. The RA will work directly with the study PI and a team of RAs to clean and code state legislative data. The RA will specifically work with the PI to read through and code state bills pertaining to immigrants and immigration. This position is for both the fall 2026 and spring 2027 semesters, with the possibility of extension into summer 2027. The RA’s tasks will include the following:

• Read state legislation on immigrants/immigration.
• Systematically code legislation for a series of indicators following an established coding protocol.
• Enter the coded information into a structured spreadsheet
• Assist in cleaning collected state legislative data, checking for accuracy and consistency.
• Communicate regularly with the PI on progress and participate in regular team meetings.

Required qualifications:

• Interest and/or formal specialization in U.S. immigration law, social/public policy.
• Interest in gaining familiarity with social science and/or legal/legislative research.
• General familiarity with Excel and/or Google Sheets.
• Excellent self-management skills.
• Ability to work independently, meet deadlines, and stay organized with minimal day-to-day supervision.
• Strong attention to detail and comfort with repetitive, careful data work.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.

Preferred qualifications:

• Prior research assistant experience involving data entry/management.
• Experience with social science and/or legal/legislative research.

How to apply

Please include a current resume/CV, and one or two paragraphs detailing your interest in the position and any relevant experience.

Candidates who advance to the next stage in the hiring process will be contacted to schedule a 30-45 minute interview and will be asked to complete a sample data coding exercise.

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