C. Lee Williams

Lee Williams is a two-year Institute of Education Sciences pre-doctoral fellow. He is currently a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in the social area of the psychology department at the University of Virginia. Prior to beginning his doctoral program, he worked as a research assistant with the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program and Motivate Lab.

Williams’ research focuses on the development, maintenance, and promotion of students’ sense of belonging in secondary and postsecondary educational settings. Of particular interest are targeted social-psychological interventions that support students’ belonging by reframing their interpretation of the academic environment. He studies these topics using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods, including statistical modeling, randomized controlled trials, laboratory experiments, and focus groups.

M.A., University of Virginia, 2020
B.S.Ed., University of Virginia, 2018

• Social and academic belonging
• Social-psychological interventions
• Quantitative methods