Esam Boraey is a PhD student in the Department of Government at Cornell University, where he is also a 2026 APSA Diversity Fellow. His subfields are comparative political economy and business strategy, with a regional focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Esam’s research examines how institutional environments shape entrepreneurial activity among marginalized communities, including immigrants, political asylees, and women entrepreneurs in contexts of weak governance and social upheaval. His work sits at the intersection of political economy, organizational theory, and social movements, asking how state structures, informal networks, and political shocks determine who gets to build and sustain firms, and under what conditions. His scholarship has been recognized with a Best Paper designation from the Academy of Management’s Entrepreneurship Division, has appeared in Academy of Management Proceedings, and includes manuscripts currently under review at Organization Science.
The APSA Diversity Fellowship Program, formerly the Minority Fellowship Program, was established in 1969 as a fellowship competition to diversify the political science profession. The DFP provides support to students applying to, or in the early stages of, a PhD program in political science. APSA has once again awarded a new cycle to provide support for students currently in their first or second year as of Spring 2026. Please join us in congratulating the 2026-2027 class of fellows.
- Learn more about DFP at https://apsanet.org/dfp
- Meet the 2026-2027 class of DFP Fellows
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