Sonia Maria Pavel

Sonia Maria Pavel PhD ’25 studies how public education can influence identities and social roles. She investigates, for example, the correlation between growing up in poverty and attending poorly-funded schools and negative outcomes related to health and financial security, as well as what happens when students interact with classmates from different socioeconomic strata. “So much of how we’re socialized defines the paths we pursue and the possibilities we allow ourselves to envision,” she says.