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Heidi Williams

Heidi Williams, Assistant Professor

Heidi Williams
Heidi Williams, Assistant Professor
Curriculum Vitae

Department of  Sociology
504 McBryde Hall 
225 Stanger Street
Blacksburg, VA 24061
540-231-8839 | hmwill07@vt.edu

Professor Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. Her research investigates the ways in which parental incarceration and extended kin involvement influences childhood wellbeing and young adult outcomes. She teaches a variety of classes that highlight her research, such as Sociology of Intimate Relationships,  Sociology of the Family, Family and Crime, and the special topics course Gender, Family, and Crime in Appalachia.

  • Family and intimate relationships
  • Social Inequalities
  • Criminology
  • Applied Research Methods

Williams, Heidi M., Grace Stevens*, and Gina Vandivier*. 2024. “Not by bread alone: Mothers’ strategic pursuit of education to meet basic needs.” Journal of Applied Social Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/19367244231218709.

Williams, Heidi M. 2023. “We get by with family: Maternal partnership transitions and extended kin coresidence.” Family Relations (20230419). https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12883.

Lyla Byers** and Heidi M. Williams. 2022. “Hollywood’s Slim Pickings for Fat Characters: A textual analysis of Gilmore Girls, Sweet Magnolias, This is Us, Shrill, and Dietland.” Fat Studies, 12(2): 273-285. https://doi.org/10.1080/21604851.2022.2037256.

Scott, Christine L., Heidi M. Williams, and Siri Wilder, eds. 2022. Facing Death: Familial Responses to Illness and Death. Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Vol. 19. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Publishing Limited.

Williams, Heidi M. 2020. “For Us or the Children: Coparenting Associations in Parental Commitment.” Pp. 77-100 in Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, Vol. 15: Transitions into Parenthood: Examining the Complexities of Childrearing, edited by R.P. Costa and S.E. Blair. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Publishing Limited.

Williams, Heidi M. and Robin S. Högnäs. 2018. “Low-Income Single Parents, Postsecondary Education, and Access to Unilateral Support: A Case Study of THEA.” Contemporary Journal of Anthropology and Sociology 8 (1): 66-83.

Högnäs, Robin S. and Heidi M. Williams. 2017. “Maternal Kinship Involvement and Father Identity in Fragile Families.” Journal of Family and Economic Issues 38 (2): 249-262.

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