Originally published by College of Education news
Congratulations to Joy!
Joy Tongsri was presented with the Outstanding Dissertation Award during the College of Education’s May 2026 graduation ceremony. She is the senior associate director of NC State’s Park Scholarships program and has been with the program since 2008.
Degree: Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development higher education opportunity, equity, and justice concentration
Dissertation title: Estimating the Effect of Leadership Training on Social Change Behaviors Among College Students: A Propensity Score Weighted Analysis
Joy Tongsri loves witnessing the ways in which NC State students create positive change in the world. However, while she knows that most universities across the country offer development programs for students, she realized that there is little existing empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such programs in producing civic outcomes.
To address that gap, Tongsri focused her dissertation research on the ways in which leadership training promotes real-world action such as community service and advocacy. Using a quasi-experimental approach to accurately reflect the effect of leadership development programs on social change behaviors, she examined national data and found that leadership training has a consistent, statistically significant positive effect.
“I hope that my dissertation helps, in some small way, bring attention to the need for higher education to develop students into leaders who will create positive change in their communities,” Tongsri said.
Tongsri credits faculty within the College of Education with helping to make her award-winning dissertation possible, specifically her advisor, Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development Department Head Joy Gaston Gayles, as well as the members of her dissertation committee: Alumni Distinguished Graduate Professor of Higher Education Alyssa Rockenbach, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology Christy Byrd, Associate Teaching Professor of Mathematics Education Cyndi Edgington, and the late Crystal Chen Lee.
“They each helped shape my research, pushing me to question various assumptions and consider new perspectives,” she said. “The College of Education professors foster a culture of challenge and support. They are invested in us, and they push us to become more skilled and critical scholars.”
As she continues in her current role with the Park Scholarships program, Tongsri believes that her time in the College of Education has helped her to grow her professional knowledge in a way that will enable her to apply her research in her day-to-day work.
“I began my doctoral journey with a desire to strengthen my professional knowledge, become a better practitioner, learn research methodology and, ultimately, contribute to higher education research. The extraordinary faculty in the College of Education absolutely helped me achieve these goals,” she said.