By her own account, Dr. Krystal L. Williams admittedly took an “indirect route” to her post as an assistant professor in the College of Education at The University of Alabama.
“I’m fairly new to the academic ranks,” says Williams, a native of Fort Worth, Texas, who earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics from Clark-Atlanta University before eventually securing a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Michigan.
Along the way, Williams has had a diverse career, including conducting research for the Navy, pursuing a post-doctoral fellowship at the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and honing her research interests in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) while working for the United Negro College Fund’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute.
It was during her time at UNCF that Williams — an alum of an HBCU — “really started thinking about what I wanted my research career to look like.”
She went on the job market and in 2016, landed a tenure-track position at the University of Alabama.
“During our initial meeting, I was impressed by her professionalism, research acumen and passion about her scholarship so I was delighted by her decision to join our faculty,” says Dr. Angela D. Benson, a professor of instructional technology and Fulbright scholar. “She is a true asset to our department and an exemplary early career scholar in the three key pillars of faculty work — research, teaching and service.”
Indeed, Williams is making a name for herself largely for her groundbreaking research on HBCU students’ experiences in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Her research trajectory also focuses on the intersection of race, equity and educational policy issues at large. In the process, she is getting a better understanding of how Black students at HBCUs generally produce 20 to 25 percent of undergraduate degrees in science. These institutions, she adds, can be highlighted for their best practices and can inform diversity efforts at other predominantly White institutions.
