William B. Walker Jr.
PhD Student
University of Georgia
Professional Bio
William B. Walker, Jr. (Will, he/him) is a doctoral student at the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education. He joined the Institute as a recipient of the Presidential Graduate Fellowship, the University of Georgia’s most prestigious honor for incoming doctoral students.
With the outcome being the social transformation of higher education institutions, Will primarily utilizes critical qualitative approaches in a transdisciplinary manner that combines insights from sociology, political science, and history. In particular, the main strand of Will’s research agenda considers how power and politics influence students’ active and agentic participation in academic decision-making. Beyond this research, Will also researches student/staff labor issues, STEM Education, and organizational change.
As a scholar, Will’s contributions to the practice and study of higher education have been acknowledged and celebrated within popular media outlets such as Esquire, Inside Higher Education, Forbes.com, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. In addition to popular media outlets, Will has shared anecdotal commentary and empirical scholarship at national conferences hosted by SXSW (South by Southwest), the Society of Social and Personality Psychology (SPSP), the National Association of College Admissions Officers (NACAC), and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). His research contributions are also expected to appear soon (with collaborators) in well-respected journals such as the Review of Higher Education, the Journal of College Student Development, and the Behavioral Sciences.
With the outcome being the social transformation of higher education institutions, Will primarily utilizes critical qualitative approaches in a transdisciplinary manner that combines insights from sociology, political science, and history. In particular, the main strand of Will’s research agenda considers how power and politics influence students’ active and agentic participation in academic decision-making. Beyond this research, Will also researches student/staff labor issues, STEM Education, and organizational change.
As a scholar, Will’s contributions to the practice and study of higher education have been acknowledged and celebrated within popular media outlets such as Esquire, Inside Higher Education, Forbes.com, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. In addition to popular media outlets, Will has shared anecdotal commentary and empirical scholarship at national conferences hosted by SXSW (South by Southwest), the Society of Social and Personality Psychology (SPSP), the National Association of College Admissions Officers (NACAC), and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). His research contributions are also expected to appear soon (with collaborators) in well-respected journals such as the Review of Higher Education, the Journal of College Student Development, and the Behavioral Sciences.
Institution/Organization
University of Georgia
Student Member