Jessica N. Lester

Jessica Lester is a Professor of Inquiry Methodology in the School of Education at Indiana University, Bloomington. Having been trined in cultural studies and qualitative research methodology, she takes an interdisciplinary approach to her scholarship, including both the methodological and substantive foci of her research program.

In her methodological work, Lester focuses on the study of language-based methods, digital tools in qualitative research, and disability in qualitative inquiry. Her substantive research has focused on examining interactional practices in clinical and educational contexts that involve children and youth.

Lester has received numerous awards for her scholarship, among them the 2014 AERA Division D Early Career Award in Measurement and Research Methodology, the 2018 APA Distinguished Early Career Contributions in Qualitative Inquiry Award, and the 2022 American Educational Studies Association Critics’ Choice Book Award. At Indiana University, Lester teaches qualitative methods courses and was recently recognized by the 2022 Gorman Distinguished Teaching Award.