Six Pathways of Scholarship: What Graduate Students Can Learn from How Knowledge Moves

Graduate students are taught to publish , but rarely to make their research move outside of the traditional academy space. Real impact begins when knowledge travels — across audiences, systems, and forms. Over the last decade, I’ve used six distinct pathways to carry my work on dyslexia, race, and giftedness beyond academia. Each one offers a model for how research can live in the world, not just in journals. Figure 1. Moving Research Beyond Academia infographic, generated with OpenAI’s ChatGPT (DALL·E model) based on original text and design concept by S. A. Robinson (2025) 1. Peer-Reviewed Research Journal articles and edited volumes built academic credibility. Lesson: Peer review confirms rigor — but reach is limited. It’s the foundation, not the finish line. 2. Monograph and Dissertation My autoethnography documented the experience of being a gifted Black male with dyslexia. Lesson: Your lived experience is data. Use it to expand what count...