Professor Yolanda Wiggins
Dr. Yolanda Wiggins grew up in Washington, D.C. and credits her academic success and career trajectory to her participation in pre-college and college enrichment programs. Dr. Wiggins is a proud alumna of Georgetown University鈥檚 Kids To College Program, University of Maryland鈥檚 Upward Bound Program, and West Virginia University鈥檚 Student Support Services TRIO and Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Programs. As a first-generation college student, these experiences fuel her commitment to understand inequality and her drive to take steps to remove barriers for marginalized groups of color.
In college, Dr. Wiggins majored in political science and economics. With hopes of
becoming a lawyer, she interned in the U.S. House of Representatives, West Virginia
Legislature, and with the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation; however, her experiences
conducting research alongside a sociology professor opened her eyes to the possibility
of pursuing a doctoral degree. She then went on to earn a Ph.D. in sociology from
the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
As both a sociologist and political scientist, Dr. Wiggins has offered her research
expertise by interning and working for a wide-range of organizations including the
World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, and Office of Minority Health and
U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. Her recommendation to students:
鈥済o where opportunities take you and never ever limit yourself.鈥� Dr. Wiggins has also
been featured on public radio as a scholarly source on educational inequalities and
has published on topics related to access and educational opportunity gaps in the
L.A. Times and San Francisco Chronicle. Dr. Wiggins is now an assistant professor
in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at 91猎奇.
