I am an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University.
My work
Professor
I am passionate about teaching. I have taught sociology at the undergraduate level for seven years, reaching more than 1,500 students across 35 sections of various courses. I regularly teach the following courses: Theories of Social Structure, Principles of Sociology, Sociology of Family, Sociology of Education, Social Class, and Juvenile Delinquency.
Researcher
I have worked on a variety of projects, both qualitative and quantitative. In addition to filling support roles in research projects at NCSU and Duke University, I have served as the PI for four recent IRB-approved projects. Recent projects examine school choice access and perceptions, housing insecurity, search strategies, and evaluation, and elite leisure scenes.
Advisor/Mentor
I am an academic advisor for students with majors in sociology or criminology. As an advisor, I help students to set goals for academic progress and make academic decisions.
I am a mentor to students while working on year-long research projects across various topics.
I also serve as director of our departmental honors programs.
Selected Publications
Riel, Virginia, Jennifer B. Ayscue, and Christy Batts. Forthcoming. “‘Not Like Super High Numbers’: Parents’ Evaluations of Diversity in the K-12 School Search.” Sociological Perspectives.
Riel, Virginia. 2026. “‘You Only Get One Shot with Your Kid’s Education’: Examining Mothers’ Involvement in K-12 Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Sociological Focus 59(1):32-50.
Yamadi, Sara, and Virginia Riel. 2026. “Nightclubs, Interactive Service Labor, and Objectification Practices: Workers’ Experiences in Elite Nightlife.” Sociological Inquiry 96(3): 1-18.
Batts, Christy, Jennifer B. Ayscue, and Virginia Riel. 2026. “‘A Bigger Factor Than Realized’: Parent Perceptions of Magnets Concerning Residency, Proximity, and Transportation.” Education Policy Analysis Archives 34(13):1-25
Riel, Virginia, and Olivia Ball. 2025. “Serendipity or Strategy? The College Housing Search and Inequality.” Sociological Forum 40(4):481-496.
Riel, Virginia. 2022. “Building Expectations and Keeping Customers Happy: How Personnel Recruit and Retain Families in Three Charter Schools.” The Sociological Quarterly 3(2):296-315.
Barnes, Carolyn, and Virginia Riel. 2022. “‘I Don’t Know Nothing About That:’ How Learning Costs Undermine COVID-related Efforts to Make SNAP and WIC More Accessible.” Administration & Society 54(10):1902-1930.
Riel, Virginia, Roslyn Arlin Mickelson and Stephen Samuel Smith. 2022. “Who Favors Magnets and Who Favors Charters? Political Ideology, Social Purpose Politics, and School Choice in the Upper South.” American Behavioral Scientist 6(6):717-743.
Parcel, Toby L., Shawn Bauldry, Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, Stephen Samuel Smith, Virginia Riel, and Madison Boden. 2022. “Using Opinion Polling Data to Replicate Non-Experimental Quantitative Results Across Time and Space: An Exploration of Attitudes Surrounding Desegregation and Resegregation Policies.” American Behavioral Scientist 66(6):691-716.
Riel, Virginia. 2021. “Siting Schools, Choosing Students? Protecting White Habitus Through Charter School Recruitment.” Sociological Forum 36(4):1028-1048.
Robertson, Will, and Virginia Riel. 2019. “Right to be Educated or Right to Choose? School Choice and its Impact on Education in North Carolina.” Virginia Law Review 105(5):1079-1114.
Riel, Virginia, Toby L. Parcel, Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, and Stephen Samuel Smith. 2018. “Do Magnet and Charter Schools Exacerbate or Ameliorate Inequality?” Sociology Compass 12(9):1-15.
Contact
If you would like to reach out or learn more, please contact me at vpriel@ncsu.edu.
Virginia Riel 