Rima Wilkes, University of British Columbia

Research

Read how they describe their research on their University of British Columbia profile.

Latest papers

Why are some racial disparities harder to interpret than others?
Frontiers in sociology · 2026 · first author
Are we really surmounting the binary? Visualizing race and ethnicity group relations via embedded relational diagrams.
Frontiers in sociology · 2025 · first author
Multi-group data versus dual-side theory: On race contrasts and police-caused homicides.
Social science & medicine (1982) · 2023 · first author

All 12 publications

Latest funding

Trust and the political sociology of health
SSHRC · 2022 · Co-investigator
$134,893
Trust and the political sociology of health
SSHRC · 2022 · Co-investigator
$38,971
It's a question of trust: explaining how race and ethnicity matter
SSHRC · 2017 · Principal investigator
$117,630

All 7 grants and awards

12 publications.

01

Why are some racial disparities harder to interpret than others?

Wilkes R, Karimi A

Frontiers in sociology2026First author

DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2026.1798604 PMID: 42494706

02

Are we really surmounting the binary? Visualizing race and ethnicity group relations via embedded relational diagrams.

Wilkes R, Karimi A

Frontiers in sociology2025First author

DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1553566 PMID: 40241975

03

Multi-group data versus dual-side theory: On race contrasts and police-caused homicides.

Wilkes R, Karimi A

Social science & medicine (1982)2023First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115946 PMID: 37182296

04

Assimilated or the boundary of Whiteness expanded? A boundary model of group belonging.

Karimi A, Wilkes R

The British journal of sociology2023Senior author

DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.12994 PMID: 36639884

05

Indigenization, institutions, and imperatives: Perspectives on reconciliation from the CSA decolonization sub‐committee

Côté R, Denis J, Watts V, Wilkes R

Canadian Review of Sociology, The20213 citationsSenior author

DOI: 10.1111/cars.12325

06

Experiences matter: A longitudinal study of individual-level sources of declining social trust in the United States.

Mewes J, Fairbrother M, Giordano GN, Wu C, Wilkes R

Social science research2021Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102537 PMID: 33653587

07

The gender gap in commenting: Women are less likely than men to comment on (men's) published research.

Wu C, Fuller S, Shi Z, Wilkes R

PloS one2020Senior author

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230043 PMID: 32236109

08

Immigration, Discrimination, and Trust: A Simply Complex Relationship.

Wilkes R, Wu C

Frontiers in sociology2019First author

DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2019.00032 PMID: 33869356

09

Representations of race and skin tone in medical textbook imagery.

Louie P, Wilkes R

Social science & medicine (1982)2018Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.02.023 PMID: 29501717

10

Durable power and generalized trust in everyday social exchange.

Wu C, Wilkes R

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2016Senior author

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1523536113 PMID: 26908871

Trust and the political sociology of health

Co-investigatorSSHRC2022Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Wu, Cary

Keywords: political sociology; trust; population health; health inequality

$134,893

Trust and the political sociology of health

Co-investigatorSSHRC2022Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Wu, Cary

Keywords: political sociology; trust; population health; health inequality

$38,971

It's a question of trust: explaining how race and ethnicity matter

Principal investigatorSSHRC2017Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Wilkes, Rima C.

Keywords: trust; ethnicity; Canada

$117,630

The environmental correlates of collective action

Principal investigatorSSHRC2011Insight Development Grant

Principal investigators: Wilkes, Rima C.

Keywords: collective action; protest; geographic spread

$51,309

Picturing protest

Principal investigatorSSHRC2009Standard Research Grants

Principal investigators: Wilkes, Rima C.

Keywords: collective action; social movements; media analysis

$81,325

Militants, Mounties, and the media: Aboriginal protest in late 20th century Canada

Principal investigatorSSHRC2005Standard Research Grants

Principal investigators: Wilkes, Rima C.

Keywords: protest; collective action; Aboriginal peoples; media

$110,690

Understanding the social structural basis of environmental activism and pro-environmental behaviour: regional, temporal, and sectoral comparisons

Co-investigatorSSHRC2005Standard Research Grants

Principal investigators: Tindall, David B.

Keywords: social movements; social networks; environmental movement; environmental values; pro-environmental behaviour; environmental activism; environmental sociology

$161,418

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Sociology
Department of Sociology
Professor & Grad Chair, Department of Sociology

Co-authors at University of British Columbia, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Aryan Karimi

Department of Sociology

4 shared papers, latest 2026

Sylvia Fuller

Department of Sociology

1 shared papers, latest 2020

Jeffrey Denis

Sociology

1 shared papers, latest 2021

Write to this professor

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Subject: Prospective PhD student Dear Professor Wilkes, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Why are some racial disparities harder to interpret than others?" (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Rima Wilkes

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

Why are some racial disparities harder to interpret than others?

Are we really surmounting the binary? Visualizing race and ethnicity group relations via embedded relational diagrams.

Multi-group data versus dual-side theory: On race contrasts and police-caused homicides.

Assimilated or the boundary of Whiteness expanded? A boundary model of group belonging.

Indigenization, institutions, and imperatives: Perspectives on reconciliation from the CSA decolonization sub‐committee

Experiences matter: A longitudinal study of individual-level sources of declining social trust in the United States.

The gender gap in commenting: Women are less likely than men to comment on (men's) published research.

Immigration, Discrimination, and Trust: A Simply Complex Relationship.

Representations of race and skin tone in medical textbook imagery.

Durable power and generalized trust in everyday social exchange.

Trust and the political sociology of health

Trust and the political sociology of health

It's a question of trust: explaining how race and ethnicity matter

The environmental correlates of collective action

Picturing protest

Militants, Mounties, and the media: Aboriginal protest in late 20th century Canada

Understanding the social structural basis of environmental activism and pro-environmental behaviour: regional, temporal, and sectoral comparisons

Frequent collaborators

Aryan Karimi

Cary Wu

Sylvia Fuller

Vanessa Watts

Jeffrey Denis