I study education policy through the lens of psychology and other disciplines. Broadly, my research examines how individual and contextual factors collectively impact the development of educational and occupational expertise across a variety of domains. With numerous colleagues, I’ve examined the many factors that contribute to and take away from talent development and how these are connected to policies and conversations on enhancing creativity and innovation ranging from the individual to society. My hope is that the knowledge gained from this research can inform ways to improve outcomes for disadvantaged populations. I use a variety of methods to study these topics, including historical, longitudinal, and experimental studies as well as systematic reviews. My research program is multidisciplinary with a focus on four core areas: Spatial thinking and reasoning skills, talent development and K-12 education, higher education and policy, and science communication and public scholarship. 

I am also leader of the Wai lab and the SMART (Supporting More ARkansas Talent) initiative at the University of Arkansas.

CV

Google Scholar Profile (for a full list of published research works)

Selected Publications

Wai, J. (2025). Spatial skills: Envisioning a third dimension in test-based accountability. Discover Education, 4, 563.

Wai, J. (2025). In defense of the know it all. Science, 390(6775), 793.

Helal, A. M., Parra-Martinez, A., Djita, R. R., Wai, J., & McKenzie, S. C. (2025). Gifted students’ later outcomes: College going rates and selectivity. Gifted Child Quarterly. Forbes

Volden, C., Wai, J., & Wiseman, A. E. (2025). On the decline of elite-educated Republicans in congress. Perspectives on Politics. The Washington Post, CNN

Wai, J. (2025). A computer scientist’s technological gamble. Science, 390(6768), 35.

Lakin, J. M., Wai, J., Wind, S. A., Doyle, D. R., Shi, Q., & Uttal, D. H. (2025). Updating the spatial activities and videogame survey for use in development research. Education Sciences, 15(10), 1285. Forbes

Wai, J. (2025). Leading a lab, and all it entails. Science, 389(6761), 690.

Wai, J. (2025). The next best way to teach and learn. Science, 388(6750), 920.

Wai, J. (2025). When trainees seek other paths. Science, 388(6742), 39.

Wai, J. (2025). Scientists as advocates. Science, 387(6732), 368.

Wai, J. (2025). Data crumbs and sitting ducks. Science, 387(6729), 31.

Parra-Martinez, A., Djita, R. R., Wai, J., & McKenzie, S. C. (2024). Does policy translate into equity? The association between universal Advanced Placement access, student enrollment, and outcomes. Journal of Advanced Academics, 36(1), 133-166. Psychology Today, Fordham Institute

Wai, J. (2024). Advice for academic authors. Science, 386(6719), 277.

Wai, J. (2024). Mind the COVID-19 gap. Science, 385(6709), 610.

Wai, J., Anderson, S., Perina, K., Worrell, F. C., & Chabris, C. F. (2024). The most successful and influential Americans come from a surprisingly narrow range of “elite” educational backgrounds. Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, 1129. The Atlantic, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes

Wai, J., & Lakin, J. M. (2024). The importance of identifying spatial skills in talented students. Gifted Child Today, 47(3), 178-185. Forbes

Lakin, J. M., Wai, J., Olszewski-Kubilius, P., Corwith, S. R., Rothschild, D., & Uttal, D. H. (2024). Spatial thinking across the curriculum: Fruitfully combining research and practice. Gifted Child Today, 47(3), 170-177. Forbes

Wai, J. (2024). Missed connections. Science, 384(6700), 1075.

Wai, J. (2024). The quantification of everything. Science, 384(6692), 167.

Wai, J. (2024). Metrics and their misapplications. Science, 383(6685), 836.

Wai, J., Kell, H. J., & Worrell, F. C. (2024). Method considerations for school psychology from longitudinal research on gifted students. Journal of School Psychology, 103, 101269.

Wai, J., & Wai, M. (2023). A new philosophy of STEM work. Science, 382(6673), 891.

Wai, J. (2023). Battling information bias. Science, 381(6659), 739.

National Working Group on Advanced Education (2023). Building a wider, more diverse pipeline of advanced learners. Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

Wai, J. (2023). Rethinking science education. Science, 380(6643), 351.

Parra-Martinez, F. A., & Wai, J. (2023). Talent identification research: A bibliometric study from multidisciplinary and global perspectives. Frontiers in Psychology: Performance Science, 14, 1141159.

Wai, J. (2023). College towns as talent hubs. Science, 379(6638), 1195.

Wai, J. (2022). Spatial thinkers receive their due. Science, 377(6614), 1497. 

Tran, B., McKenzie, S. C., & Wai, J. (2022). Local norms and gifted and talented identification in Arkansas: Can it help improve student diversity? Office for Education Policy, University of Arkansas, Arkansas Education Report, 19(7), 1-23.

Wai, J. (2022). Remarks to the Arkansas Senate Education Committee on the importance of gifted education. Arkansas State Senate, February 16, 2022.

Tran, B., Wai, J., McKenzie, S. C., Mills, J. N., & Seaton, D. (2022). Expanding gifted identification to capture academically advanced low income and disadvantaged students: The case of Arkansas. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 45(1), 64-83. The Conversation

Wai, J., & Benbow, C. P. (2021). Educational interventions on behalf of the gifted: Do they have lasting links with development? In J. Van Tassel-Baska (Ed.), Talent development in gifted education: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 115-130). New York: Routledge.

Kanaya, T., Wai, J., & Worrell, F. C. (2021). The “Flynn effect” and decision making in education: Addressing fairness concerns. In J. L. Jonson & K. F. Geisinger (Eds.), Fairness in educational and psychological testing: Examining theoretical, research, practice, and policy implications of the 2014 Standards. American Educational Research Association.

Wai, J. (2021). More than the message. Science, 372(6542), 579.

Lewis, N. A., Jr., & Wai, J. (2021). Communicating what we know, and what isn’t so: Science communication in psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(6), 1242-1254. Forbes

Wai, J., & Worrell, F. C. (2020). How talented low-income kids are left behind. Phi Delta Kappan, 102(4), 26-29.

Lakin, J. M., & Wai, J. (2020). Making space for spatial talent. Phi Delta Kappan, 102(4), 36-39.

Lakin, Wai, J., & Lakin, J. M. (2020). Finding the missing Einsteins: Expanding the breadth of cognitive and noncognitive measures used in academic services. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 63, 101920. Forbes

Lakin, J. M., & Wai, J. (2020). Spatially gifted, academically inconvenienced: Spatially talented students experience less academic engagement and more behavioral issues than other talented students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(4), 1015-1038. The Conversation, Fordham Institute, Edutopia, Forbes

Kell, H. J., & Wai, J. (2019). Right-tail range restriction: A lurking threat to detecting associations between traits and skill among experts. Journal of Expertise, 2, 224-242. Forbes

Wai, J., & Allen, J. (2019). What boosts talent development? Examining predictors of academic growth in secondary school among academically advanced youth across 21 years. Gifted Child Quarterly, 63, 253-272. Psychology Today

Kanaya, T., Wai, J., & Miranda, B. (2019). Exploring the links between receiving special education services and adulthood outcomes. Frontiers in Education: Special Educational Needs, 4, 56. Chalkbeat, Psychology Today

Wai, J., & Uttal, D. H. (2018). Why spatial reasoning matters for education policy. American Enterprise Institute Policy Report. Edutopia, Forbes

Wai, J., & Halpern, D. F. (2018). The impact of changing norms on creativity in psychological science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13, 466-472.

Wai, J., & Perina, K. (2018). Expertise in journalism: Factors shaping a cognitive and culturally elite profession. Journal of Expertise, 1, 57-78. Scientific American, The Intercept, The Hill, AlterNet, FAIR, The Atlantic

Wai, J., & Worrell, F. C. (2017). Fully developing the potential of academically advanced students: Helping them will help society. American Enterprise Institute Policy Report. Times Educational Supplement

Wai, J. & Worrell, F. C. (2016). Helping disadvantaged and spatially talented students fulfill their potential: Related and neglected national resources. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3, 122-128. The Conversation, The Huffington Post, National Review, Business Insider, Quartz

Makel, M. C., & Wai, J. (2016). Does economic research in education work? For which studies? Journal of Advanced Academics, 27, 73-80.

Makel, M. C., Wai, J., Putallaz, M., & Malone, P. (2015). The academic gap: An international comparison of the time allocation of academically talented students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 59, 177-189. The Conversation, Quartz, World Economic Forum

Miller, D., & Wai, J. (2015). The bachelor’s to PhD STEM pipeline no longer leaks more women than men: A 30-year analysis. Frontiers in Psychology: Developmental, 6, 37. Nature, Science, U.S. News, Inside Higher Ed, The Guardian

Wai, J. (2015). Long-term effects of educational acceleration. In S. G. Assouline, N. Colangelo, J. VanTassel-Baska, & A. E. Lupkowski-Shoplik (Eds.) A nation empowered: Evidence trumps the excuses that hold back America’s brightest students (V. II, pp. 73-83). Iowa City, IA: The Belin-Blank Center for Gifted and Talented Education.

Wai, J., Putallaz, M., & Makel, M. C. (2012). Studying intellectual outliers: Are there sex differences, and are the smart getting smarter? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 21, 382-390. The Economist

Wai, J., & Putallaz, M. (2011). The Flynn effect puzzle: A 30-year examination from the right tail of the ability distribution provides some missing pieces. Intelligence, 39, 443-455. Wired, Scientific American

Makel, M. C., Li, Y., Putallaz, M., & Wai, J. (2011). High ability students’ time spent outside the classroom. Journal of Advanced Acacdemics, 22, 720-749.

Wai, J., Lubinski, D., Benbow, C. P., & Steiger, J. H. (2010). Accomplishment in science technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and its relation to STEM educational dose: A 25-year longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102, 860-871. Nature, Scientific American, Education Week, NPR

Wai, J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Spatial ability for STEM domains: Aligning over fifty years of cumulative psychological knowledge solidifies its importance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 817-835. Scientific American, NPR, Science

Wai, J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2009). Aligning potential and passion for promise: A model for educating intellectually talented youth. In J. S. Renzulli, E. J. Gubbins, K. S. McMillen, R. D. Eckert, & C. A. Little (Eds.) Systems and models for developing programs for the gifted and talented (2nd ed., pp. 693-716). Mansfield Center, CT: Creative Learning Press.

Halpern, D. F., & Wai, J. (2007). The world of competitive Scrabble: Novice and expert differences in visuospatial and verbal abilities. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 13, 79-94. The New Republic, The Chronicle of Higher Education

Wai, J., Lubinski, D., & Benbow, C. P. (2005). Creativity and occupational accomplishments among intellectually precocious youths: An age 13 to age 33 longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 484-492. The New York Times, Science