Dublin Core
Title
Becca Williams Oral History Interview
Description
In the interview, Becca Williams describes her upbringing in Santa Barbara, California with her large extended family living close by. She talks about her experiences with religion and her private, Catholic education. Becca recounts her undergraduate education at Chapman University where she got her BA in sociology with an emphasis in social work and the two study abroad experiences she had while enrolled, one in Costa Rica and one at the University of Ghana.
From there, Becca talks about the jobs she had after getting her degree. We discuss the jobs that she had abroad as a 1st grade teacher and then as a crisis hotline project coordinator in Thailand followed by two years in Peru as the director of operations for a rural community health worker program. Becca then describes her graduate school experience at the Institute of Development Studies in Brighton, England where she got her M.A. of Gender and Development in International Development. Becca briefly covers the different research she did while at the Institute.
A significant amount of the interview is spent on details surrounding the different international experiences Becca had, specifically in Thailand, Ghana, and Peru. Much of the details are simply related to daily life in these locations, but we also discuss different impressions and experiences that Becca had.
Becca moves on to talk about the work she did after getting her M.A. and moving back to Santa Barbara. She describes the difficulty she had finding a job at first, eventually ending up at UC Santa Barbara managing the women’s center and then as the assistant director of the campus advocacy services. She also briefly talks about a gender pay gap encouraged her search for a higher position that lead her to become the director of the Survivor Advocacy and Resource Center (SARC) at OSU.
Becca then talks about the changes she has implemented since becoming the director of SARC in 2019. She describes some of the difficulties survivor advocacy faces in higher education and at OSU, especially around institutional neutrality and a lack of power. The interview concludes with the differences between survivor advocacy in the US and outside of the US, specifically in Peru where Becca had the most experience.
From there, Becca talks about the jobs she had after getting her degree. We discuss the jobs that she had abroad as a 1st grade teacher and then as a crisis hotline project coordinator in Thailand followed by two years in Peru as the director of operations for a rural community health worker program. Becca then describes her graduate school experience at the Institute of Development Studies in Brighton, England where she got her M.A. of Gender and Development in International Development. Becca briefly covers the different research she did while at the Institute.
A significant amount of the interview is spent on details surrounding the different international experiences Becca had, specifically in Thailand, Ghana, and Peru. Much of the details are simply related to daily life in these locations, but we also discuss different impressions and experiences that Becca had.
Becca moves on to talk about the work she did after getting her M.A. and moving back to Santa Barbara. She describes the difficulty she had finding a job at first, eventually ending up at UC Santa Barbara managing the women’s center and then as the assistant director of the campus advocacy services. She also briefly talks about a gender pay gap encouraged her search for a higher position that lead her to become the director of the Survivor Advocacy and Resource Center (SARC) at OSU.
Becca then talks about the changes she has implemented since becoming the director of SARC in 2019. She describes some of the difficulties survivor advocacy faces in higher education and at OSU, especially around institutional neutrality and a lack of power. The interview concludes with the differences between survivor advocacy in the US and outside of the US, specifically in Peru where Becca had the most experience.
Creator
Becca Williams
Source
Voices of Oregon State University Oral History Collection (OH 009)
Publisher
Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries
Date
February 17, 2021
Contributor
Nico Enriquez
Format
Born Digital Video, Collected Over Zoom
Language
English
Type
Oral History
Identifier
oh09-williams-becca-20210217
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Nico Enriquez
Interviewee
Becca Williams
Location
Separate residences, collected over Zoom
Original Format
Born Digital Video, Collected Over Zoom
Duration
1:23:59
OHMS Object
Interview Format
video