Welcome!

I’m a Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology and M.S. student in Statistics & Data Science at UCLA. My research examines how inequality unfolds across the life course through three interconnected agendas:

Life course inequality & disruption

I conceptualize life disruptions as turning points that redirect lives onto divergent trajectories. My dissertation develops trajectory stratification, showing how the timing, sequence, and duration of post-disruption pathways shape long-term mobility.

Methods: causal inference & machine learning

I advance statistical and computational approaches for studying life course inequality— including causal mediation forests, deep learning for life-course sequences, and a deductive–inductive view of causal ML for sociological explanation.

Norms, perceptions, & social inequalities

I study how heterogeneity in cultural norms and perceptions translates into social inequalities—e.g., gender ideologies in South Korea and how skin tone conditions the economic returns to education among Black workers during COVID-19.

📄 Current projects

  • Trajectory stratification after divorce (ASR under review)
  • College, occupation, and racial/skin-tone disparities in COVID-19 job loss (Demography, R&R)
  • Deep learning–based g-computation for life course sociology (NeurIPS under review)

Publications include the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Social Science Research. Support includes the Kwanjeong Scholarship, UCLA dissertation fellowships, and an ASA Student Paper Award Honorable Mention.

I’m on the 2025–26 academic job market, seeking tenure-track and postdoctoral opportunities in sociology, demography, and computational social science. Please see my Research, Teaching, and CV.

📢 Recent updates
  • August 8–12, 2025 – Organized two sessions on family and work, and gave an oral presentation on trajectory stratification at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA), Chicago.
  • August 4–7, 2025 – Helped organize the RC28 Conference at UCLA.
  • June–August 2025 – Visiting the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research to work on machine learning approaches to life course analysis.
  • July 3–4, 2025 – Gave an invited lecture, Machine Learning for Causal Inference: A Two-Part Introduction to G-Computation, for Yonsei University’s Department of Sociology.

🗂️ Archive (click to view)
  • May 17, 2025 – Presented ongoing work on deep learning and g-computation at the ASA Mid-Year Methodology Conference (University of Pennsylvania).
  • May 6, 2025 – Received an Honorable Mention for the 2025 ASA Religion Section Student Paper Award.