Brittany M. Williams

Brittany M. Williams, PhD is an assistant professor of higher education at St. Cloud State University. A first-generation college graduate, she is a proud product of Atlanta Public Schools and considers being a daughter of the Black American South an integral part of her social identities. Brittany holds a PhD in college student affairs administration from the University of Georgia and obtained her MA from Teachers College, Columbia University and BA from Hampshire College.

Current Work:

Brittany M. Williams, PhD engages research exploring issues of career development, social class, social activism, and HIV/AIDS prevention and sexual health in college and campus environments. Her primary point of scholarly entry within these areas of focus are through the experiences of Black women and girls in and outside of higher education. Her most recently completed project was her dissertation study, "I Did Everything I Was Supposed to:' Black Women Administrative Professionals' Push Out and Opt Out of Higher Education." Winner of the 2019 Southern Association for College Student Affairs (SACSA) Dissertation of the Year award, she is currently submitting the findings from this study for publication.

Dr. Williams is beginning two, new, fully funded research studies. The first, "A 10-year Content Analysis of U.S. Based HIV/AIDS Related Research Published in Higher Education Journals" is being fully supported by a grant from the St. Cloud State University Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. This 10-year content analysis of U.S. based HIV/AIDS research published in higher education journals will reveal how HIV is discussed, described, and examined in higher education contexts as published in higher education journals. Moreover, this project will use descriptive statistics to reveal how much scholarship on HIV/AIDs is published in higher education journals, how often, the demographic and population focus of these articles, as well as the methodological variance and types of articles published. By focusing on higher education journals specifically, this content analysis seeks to reveal gaps in the scholarly exploration of and works toward the fight to end HIV transmission in the college sector due to siloed efforts between public health and campus life professionals.

Her second in progress study, "I have a career I can't afford to start:" Examining Post-Doctoral Black Women's Academic Precarity in Student Affairs and Higher Education" is funding by NASPA Region IV-E. The purpose of this study is to explore stressors associated with academic precarity as described and experienced by Black women graduates from HESA doctoral programs. This study seeks to specifically understand the types of stress associated with summer gap, or the time between graduation and start to employment. Moreover, this study examines how academic precarity before, during, and after the summer gap has impacted Black women's livelihoods and decision making since their initial post-graduate employment.

Research Area Keyword(s):

Black women, career development, HIV/AIDS, social class, social activism