Institutions do more than educate, regulate, or employ people. They shape who people are able to become.

Dr. Jamie Kellar's research examines how institutional systems construct, legitimize, constrain, and enable identity, and how these processes shape learning, leadership, professional practice, and organizational change. Drawing on qualitative inquiry and critical social theory, she studies how institutional discourses influence legitimacy, belonging, and the possibilities available to individuals within educational and professional contexts.

Her scholarship is grounded in health professions education, where she have explored the social construction of professional identity, educational change, and the hidden curriculum. While this work began in pharmacy education, her research increasingly examines broader questions of identity within institutional systems, including leadership identity, organizational culture, learner wellbeing, and higher education.

Ultimately, her work seeks to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about education and professional practice while informing the thoughtful redesign of educational and professional systems. She is motivated by a simple but enduring question: How can institutions become places where people are able to become who they are capable of becoming?

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