Jessica Leveto Quoted in Nature.com
Kent State University sociologist Jessica Leveto, Ph.D. ’12, CER6 ’21, is quoted in an article published by Nature.com titled, “Has the ‘Great Resignation’ Hit Academia?” The EHHS and CAS graduate reflected on higher education staffers, mostly mothers from across the country, being overworked, under-appreciated and not supported by universities.
“For a long time, people invested in the ideal-worker mentality of ‘I’m going to produce as much as I can and show them I’m a good employee but the care wasn’t reciprocated,” said Leveto, who queried some 1,000 U.S. higher education faculty members during a two-year period to see how the pandemic affected their careers.
In 2021, Leveto found that survey participants were upset and dissatisfied with universities that rushed them back into in-person classes while ignoring pandemic safety.
Six years prior, she initiated a Facebook group called PhD Mamas to support mothers in academia. It grew from 1,500 members to nearly 12,000, and included a dedicated subgroup of more than 300 mothers with advice on how to leave academia.