Leavy was named as the “2010 New England Sociologist of the Year” by the New England Sociological Association. She is the recipient of the 2014 Special Achievement Award by the American Creativity Association, the Egon Guba Memorial Keynote Lecture Award by the American Educational Research Association Qualitative SIG, and a 2015 Special Career Award by the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. She has received the National Art Education Association 2018 Distinguished Service Outside the Profession Award.