She received a bachelor's degree in computer science at Pennsylvania State University in 1972.
[3] Through her career as a sociologist, she specialized in research on social inequality based on family, poverty, and health.
One important highlight upon her research include the 1996 Welfare Reform Act to support the low-income workforce population.
[4] Due to her work offering a greater insight on the effects of nature and nurture on the social development of teenagers using the life course perspective, Harris was elected to become a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2014.
[5] Harris was awarded the Clifford C. Clogg award for early career achievement in population studies and demography from the Population Association of America and Research Institute of Pennsylvania State University in 2004.