Verena Reidinger is a doctoral researcher at the Chair Political Institutions and European Politics at the Department of Political Science. Verena studied political science and history at the University of Vienna. In May 2020 she submitted her master thesis on the effect of candidate selection processes on female representation on viable list positions. During her studies, she worked as research assistant at the Department of Government, University of Vienna and at the Vienna Center for Electoral Research. Furthermore, she was a research assistent in the project „Trade Unions - Declining Membership, declining influence?“, financed by the Austrian National Bank. In her doctoral research she investigates the effects of descriptive representation on the legitimacy of political institutions. Her research interests also involve parties, parliaments and electoral systems.