Jessica Leveto

Jessica A. Leveto, Ph.D., is a sociologist, educator, and organizational strategist whose work connects research, leadership, and systems-level innovation in higher education. An Associate Professor of Sociology at Kent State University, she brings more than two decades of experience examining identity, family, mental health, neurodiversity, and the evolving structures and cultures of academic institutions.

Her research focuses on the lived experiences of caregiving scholars (faculty and students), exploring how institutional norms, policies, and expectations shape academic participation and progress. Dr. Leveto investigates how higher education systems can be redesigned to better reflect the full range of realities, responsibilities, and identities that individuals carry into academic spaces.

She is a leader in developing research-informed strategies that help institutions become more responsive, adaptable, and sustainable. Her work emphasizes flexible course design, student-centered learning, and practical career alignment—particularly for parenting students, neurodivergent learners, and first-generation college students. Drawing on design thinking, sensemaking, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Dr. Leveto creates tools and frameworks that strengthen student engagement, retention, and long-term success.

Dr. Leveto brings research methodology and program evaluation expertise, with advanced training in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method approaches. She is proficient in analytical tools, including STATA, MAXQDA, SPSS, and NVivo, and she applies this skill set to institutional initiatives focused on program assessment, instructional design, faculty development, and student success. Her work ensures that innovation is grounded in evidence, informed by data, and aligned with measurable outcomes.

In her institutional leadership roles, she contributes to university-wide strategic planning, curriculum development, and mentoring initiatives. She has led efforts to build structural support for caregiving students and faculty and mentors emerging scholars engaged in research on access, identity, and student success.

Beyond the university, Dr. Leveto is the founder of Ph.D. Mamas, an international online community of over 20,000 academic mothers, and serves on the board of the International Association of Maternal Action and Scholarship (IAMAS). Through her consulting practice, IntegratEd Coaching and Consulting, LLC, she offers leadership development, faculty coaching, assessment, and strategic advising for institutions and organizations seeking to create more human-centered environments. She holds advanced certification in intentional and developmental coaching and integrates evidence-based coaching practices into her work with individuals and organizations.

Her work has been published in Sociology Compass, Current Psychology, and in edited volumes from Oxford University Press and Routledge. Recent publications include a chapter on institutional support for parenting graduate students in Making Colleges Supportive Spaces for Pregnant and Parenting Students. She serves on the Editorial Board of Teaching Sociology. She actively shapes national discourse on caregiving and structural reform in academia through collaborations with the Aspen Institute, the American Sociological Association, and other scholarly organizations.

Her recent work includes participation in nationally recognized initiatives such as the Sensemaking Seminar for Student Success (Miami University, supported by the Lumina Foundation) and the Aspen Institute’s Postsecondary Success for Parents Initiative, where she contributes to developing actionable strategies that reflect the realities of caregiving students, faculty, and staff in higher education.

A first-generation college graduate and mother of three—Liam (25), Ryleigh (10), and Lillian (9)—Dr. Leveto brings both personal insight and professional expertise to her mission: helping institutions evolve to support the full scope of human experience in academic life and educational pursuits.