Care, motherhood & academic institutions
How caregiving identities meet institutional expectations—and what those encounters reveal about work, family, equity, and access.
Scholarship
Research on identity, care, belonging, and institutional life.
My scholarship is rooted in sociological social psychology and moves across family, higher education, mental health, emotion, neurodiversity, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Areas of inquiry
Questions that connect selves and systems.
Identity, emotion & mental health
How identities take shape through social interaction, emotional expectations, reflected appraisals, and institutional settings.
Neurodiversity
A sociological account of autism and neurodiversity that takes culture, identity, interaction, and power seriously.
Teaching & learning
Relational trust, career readiness, accessible course design, and the conditions that support student participation and success.
Selected publications
A sample of the work
This is a selected list. My Kent State profile and CV contain the full scholarly record.
2024
CohenMiller, Anna, and Jessica A. Leveto. “Motherscholars.” Oxford Bibliographies in Education. Oxford University Press.
2024
Leveto, Jessica A. “Nurturing Equity and Access: Compassion in Action for Parenting Graduate Students.” In Creating Supportive Spaces for Pregnant and Parenting College Students. Routledge.
2023
CohenMiller, Anna, and Jessica A. Leveto. “Centering Voices of Motherscholars During the COVID-19 Pandemic Shows Overwhelming Responsibilities, Ingrained Gender Roles, and Blurred Boundaries.” Routledge.
2020
Leveto, Jessica A. “Exploring the Relationships Between Discrepancies in Perceptions of Emotional Performance Among College Students on Self-Esteem and Psychological Distress.” Current Psychology.
2018
Leveto, Jessica A. “Toward a Sociology of Autism and Neurodiversity.” Sociology Compass 12(12).
2016
Leveto, Jessica A. “Happiness and Identity Theory.” In New Directions in Identity Theory and Research. Oxford University Press.