Research Interests: Gender & Sexualities; Education & Inequality; Health and Well-Being
My research focuses primarily on the health and well-being of gender and sexual minority populations, including social determinants of health such as educational attainment, and direct measures of health such as suicidality. My research employs the life course framework, emphasizing the influence of social context and the timing of life events, as well as the minority stress framework, which considers how gender and sexual minority status contributes to risk and resilience in response to stigma and discrimination. My current work addresses the following questions: (1) How does the health and well-being of gender and sexual minorities vary across context? (2) How do the social and academic experiences of sexual and gender minorities vary from those of cisgender heterosexuals, and how do these processes shape health and well-being? And (3) how is social structural location (e.g., SES) and educational experiences associated with the gender identities individuals claim?
I also collaborate with Maura Kelly (faculty in Sociology) on program assessments of the Oregon Labor & Industry’s Highway Development Program, which seeks to increase the recruitment and retention of women and people of color in the highway trades in Oregon.
Recent publications:
Pearson, Jennifer, Lindsey Wilkinson, and Jamie Wooley. In Press. “State-Level Policy, School Victimization, and Suicide Risk among Sexual Minority Youth.” Advances in Medical Sociology, Sexual and Gender Minority Health, Vol 21, Allen LeBlanc and Brea Perry (Eds). Emerald Publishing.
Thompson, Melissa, Lindsey Wilkinson, and Hyeyoung Woo. “Social Characteristics, Symptoms, and Behavioral Predictors of ADHD Diagnosis across the Life Course.” Conditionally accepted at Society and Mental Health.
Liu, Hui, I-Chien Chen, Lindsey Wilkinson, Jennifer Pearson, and Yan Zhang. 2019. “Sexual Orientation and Diabetes during the Transition to Adulthood.” LGBT Health, 6(5): 227-234.