Transforming Pathways in Physics: Lessons from a Nonlinear Academic Journey

In this talk, I will discuss how my own educational trajectory has shaped the scientific questions I now pursue about physics learning, preparation, and access. Although my training includes traditional physics and mathematics, my experiences navigating the undergraduate and graduate pipeline revealed structural features of our discipline that strongly influence who enters and persists in physics. These experiences exposed how course sequencing, informal expectations, advising practices, and departmental culture can unintentionally gatekeep pathways into physics, even for highly motivated students. These formative moments now guide my current research program, which focuses on improving access to and success in calculus-based introductory physics sequences, clarifying expectations and decision-making processes in graduate admissions, and transforming departmental practices and policies to improve the experiences of graduate students. By tracing the connection between lived experience and research direction, my talk illustrates how individual trajectories can illuminate broader structural opportunities for improvement. I will conclude by discussing how reflecting on our own pathways—both the barriers and the sources of support—can inform evidence-based reforms that strengthen the physics community and expand the landscape of opportunity for future physicists.