Joy Zhou

Leyi (Joy) Zhou (she/her) is a PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Social Welfare, with a Designated Emphasis in Global Metropolitan Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Applied Data Science. She received her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Tsinghua University in China and her MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to her doctoral studies, she was licensed in New York State and practiced as an English–Mandarin bilingual geriatric social worker, providing home-visit CBT therapy to homebound older adults from diverse cultural backgrounds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

At Berkeley, Joy has been involved in multiple research projects covering topics such as LGBTQ+ aging, community safety and aging, older adults’ civic participation, and technology utilization in aging services at the Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services and CITRIS Health.

Currently, Joy’s research interests center on barriers to service utilization and the digital divide, with a particular focus on technology-enabled programs for older adults. Her dissertation research addresses one core question: What mechanisms drive technology utilization among older adults in the AI era? This study applies a three-phase sequential design using multiple qualitative data collection methods—including company document analysis, interviews, and focus groups—to integrate perspectives from cross-sector stakeholders across industry, community organizations, and older adults. These findings extend existing technology acceptance frameworks by incorporating community- and individual-level factors tailored to diverse aging populations in the AI era. Ultimately, this work informs the development of more inclusive, age-friendly AI technologies and targeted interventions.