Jingran Yang is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Kansas. Her research interests span organizational economics, political economy, comparative politics, and American politics. Her recent work in organizational economics and political economy examines how informal networks shape internal competitive dynamics and contribute to divergence in organizational performance. In comparative politics, she studies the social, political, and economic micro-foundations of political regime transitions and social stability. In American politics, she is particularly interested in experimental research on the causes of political polarization.

Prior to pursuing her Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Kansas, Yang earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Renmin University of China in Beijing, where she was advised by Dr. Qijing Yang. Her early research focused on personnel promotion and career advancement in local Chinese governments.

Yang is also the co-founder of Meen Community (咪音社), a WeChat Official Account dedicated to promoting musical diversity in Mainland China.