Vida is a professor in the Sociology Department and studies social inequality and how it comes about. How do families come to have certain bundles of resources? How is inequality passed down from parents to children? How does it change over time? She is an expert in demography, social inequality and mobility, social disparities in health (especially smoking and breastfeeding) and the intersection of gender, parenting, and work. She enjoys teaching and getting to know her students. Vida teaches the required statistics courses for the sociology major and Ph.D. students, and seminars on the sociology of sex and gender. Before becoming an academic, she worked as a policy analyst studying social programs designed to reduce school dropout and poverty.

Vida grew up in Los Angeles and went to U.C. Berkeley for college. She is a big fan of Latin music, group fitness classes and lifting weights, growing a lush and colorful garden, and spending time with her family.