Priyanka Jha was barely a teenager in India, and already brimming with ambition and confidence, when her ultimate destination in life came into view.
“Since sixth-grade, I’ve always wanted to pursue a doctoral program – and in the U.S.,” Jha says. “I clearly remember: ‘I want to have the “Dr.” title in front of my name, and I want to do it in the U.S.’ ”
Jha worked to achieve just that March 24 as she successfully defended her dissertation for NIU’s Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision.
And she’s built a sturdy foundation for what’s next.
The vice president of the NIU Counseling Association was named an Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling 2024 Emerging Leader and was a recipient of that organization’s Sponsored Scholarship Program.
Her 2024 Student Research Grant from the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision funded a study of the impact of culturally responsive research mentorship on research identity development among international counseling students.
One year earlier, she shared her work on “Experience of Shame in a Supervisory Relationship among International Supervisees of Color from an Eastern Culture” during the College of Education’s 2023 Student Research Symposium – and, last semester, she received the College of Education Dean’s Student Grant for her dissertation.
Now, with a full-time, tenure-track faculty position already secured for the fall at the University of Northern Iowa, Jha has received the 2025 Glen E. Hubele National Graduate Student Award from the American Counseling Association in honor of her outstanding scholarship.
“When I received that email, I would say it was just a moment of awe, and surreal, and shock, and happiness – all of those emotions at the same time. I immediately texted my advisor that I got it, and he’s like, ‘Wonderful! Congratulations! This is a huge deal,’ ” Jha says.
“Getting an award from there is such a big deal,” she adds, “but this award means a lot to me in multiple senses.”
Included in those senses are validation of the worthiness of her dissertation topic, which examines different factors that influence research development for international students in counseling programs, as well as the fact that she is an international student herself.
“There was a reason to pursue this study because of the need to recognize international student needs, which may not always be taken into consideration,” Jha says.
“Even though a lot of programs need diversity – they’re hiring, they’re recruiting international students and faculty – there’s also this observation that, sometimes, the system’s not made for us,” she adds. “So, how do we modify that? We want to be here, and the institution needs us, too, so how do we co-exist in the program or institution wherever we are? That was my motive. It means a lot to me personally, and I will say that this recognition of my efforts means that it also counts somewhere else – that it means something for other people.”
Peitao Zhu, assistant professor in the NIU Department of Counseling and Higher Education, is not surprised by Jha’s success.
“Priyanka’s dissertation project was an ambitious endeavor, demanding both conceptual sophistication and methodological rigor,” says Zhu, who nominated Jha for the Hubele. “From her very first day as a doctoral student, Priyanka has never shied away from a challenge. I am incredibly proud of her many achievements and have no doubt that she has a bright and promising career ahead.”
JHA ARRIVED IN THE United States in 2022 after working as a psychotherapist, mental health and career counselor and emotional wellness coach in India, where she earned two degrees at Christ University in Bangalore: a 2020 master’s in Counseling Psychology and a 2018 bachelor’s with a triple major in Psychology, Sociology and English.
“Mental health, in general, has a lot of stigma and taboo. I saw that in my hometown, and when I came here, I realized that there was stigma around mental health here as well, which was not something I perceived about the U.S. as a student in India,” she says. “Being able to advocate for mental health has always been something I was very passionate about personally and professionally.”
The professional side of that advocacy – a determination that “there is a lot of scope for counseling to develop,” she says – is what brought her to DeKalb.
“There is a lot of need for more intersectional, more trauma-informed, more systematic way of doing therapy, which not only tackles how you serve the community individually but also understanding how you can make some changes on a more systemic and macro-level,” Jha says.
“I realized that, with just a counselor role, I was able to serve on an induvial level but not so much on a systemic level,” she adds. “I realized that maybe I needed a shift in my profession so that I could broaden my scope, which is why I came into this program. I realized that, ‘Yes, I can teach people. I can advocate on the side. I can be a counselor. I can engage in multiple roles.’ ”
NIU has prepared her well, she says.
“One of the biggest things I have received my program is the exposure in terms of resources, in terms of people, and organizations,” she says. “I’ve had exposure to different kinds of professors, faculty mentors and peers, either from currently present NIU members, or those who have graduated. Different individuals taught me about research, teaching and leadership in their own way.”
Meanwhile, she adds, “because of NIU, I was able to go to different organizations and meet different people, and I think that has been marvelous in the sense that I met a lot of people that I’ve read about, or I got to see what people are doing in our field.”
And, academically, completing her higher education in another country provided a well-rounded perspective on her awaiting career.
“In terms of how the professors interacted with me when I came here, I had the right amount of independence, autonomy and support to be able to do things in my own way,” Jha says. “While India was more outcome-oriented, NIU has been more process-oriented, so it really showed me how both systems work and what works for me.”
