Women and Leadership in Distance Education in Canada

The impact of distance education on higher learning is undeniable, and women have played a significant role in shaping the evolution of this field. However, their leadership contributions have remained largely unacknowledged and undervalued. Women and Leadership in Distance Education in Canada addresses this critical gap by amplifying the voices of Canadian women who have fostered inclusive, relational, and complexity-based leadership approaches that prioritize student needs, accessibility, and social justice. With contributions from instructional designers, faculty members, and senior administrators, this timely and candid collection offers practical strategies for encouraging resilience and mentorship as well as valuable insights on program design, collaborative organizational development, and lived experiences of leadership. Through reflections on systemic barriers and creative solutions, these women leaders highlight the importance of diverse perspectives and provide valuable lessons for educational leaders worldwide.

About the Editors

Cindy Ives is professor emerita of distance education at Athabasca University and has held academic and senior administrative experience at four Canadian universities. During her career at Athabasca University, she inspired and supported innovative online and open initiatives, including MOOCs, Open Educational Resources, course and program development and evaluation, new learning designs, digital learning resources and learning analytics. Pamela Walsh is an adult and distance educator who followed a non-traditional career path to the professoriate through a succession of middle-level and executive positions in postsecondary education in Newfoundland and Labrador, and Alberta. She retired as an associate professor at Athabasca University. Her research interests include open educational practices in distance education, leadership and organizational change, and transnational distance education.  Rebecca E. Heiser is a mixed-methods researcher recognized with the Governor General’s Gold Medal from Athabasca University for her doctoral work in distance education. Her scholarship explores quality dimensions, internationalization, and systems-level perspectives in online and distance higher education, with a particular emphasis on the societal impact of research. She currently serves as research faculty at Oregon State University and as Interviews Editor for the American Journal of Distance Education.

With contributions by Amy Burns, Katy Campbell, Lorraine Carter, Elizabeth Childs, Lynn Corcoran, Kristine Dreaver-Charles, Patti Dyjur, Cynthia Eden, Margaret Edwards, Natalie Green, Michelle Harrison, Jenni Hayman, Christina Hendricks, Sandy Hughes, Diane Janes, Erin Keith, Victoria Kennedy, Jennifer Lock, Sarah MacRae, Kathleen Matheos, Michelle Mitchell, Tannis Morgan, Kimberly Myrick, Sophia Palahicky, Jasmine Pham, Megan Pickard, Sherry Rose, Anne-Marie Scott, Afsaneh Sharif, Tammy Soanes-White, Kimberly Stewart, Denise Stockley, Lori Wallace, and Connie (Levina) Yuen.

Table of Contents

1. Acknowledgements
2. Introduction
3. 1. An Old Buffalo Speaks: Reflections on My Years of Leadership in Distance Education and Online Learning
   Lori Wallace
4. Section I: Planning Learning
   1. 2. Decolonization in Distance Education: Trying to Lead through Possibility and Good Relationships
      Kristine Dreaver-Charles
   2. 3. Not Just a Pretty Course: Aesthetic Leadership in Distance Education
      Cynthia Eden, Natalie Green, Sandy Hughes, Victoria Kennedy, and Megan Pickard
   3. 4. Leading Distance Learning in Canadian Higher Education: The Three Cs
      Jennifer Lock, Patti Dyjur, and Michelle Mitchell
   4. 5. Leadership in Distance Education: Vision Is Vital
      Kim Myrick and Denise Stockley
   5. 6. Building Alternative Futures: Co-Creating an Online Asynchronous Degree Program for Early Childhood Educators
      Sherry L. Rose and Kim Stewart
5. Section II: Communicating and Collaborating
   1. 7. Through a Glass Darkly: Middle-Level Leadership in an Era of Online Education
      Amy Burns
   2. 8. Leading In, Through, and Beyond a Crisis
      Lynn Corcoran and Margaret Edwards
   3. 9. Interpersonal Communication: A Critical Reflection Tool
      Sarah MacRae
   4. 10. First Year by Distance Education and Campus Manitoba: A Manitoba Women’s Story
      Kathleen Matheos
   5. 11. A Strategic Response to the Demands of the Pandemic: A Black Woman’s Leadership Story
      Sophia Palahicky
6. Section III: Reflecting on Experiences
   1. 12. Hurry Slowly: A Conversation about Leadership in Distance Education through Multiple Roles
      Michelle Harrison, Christina Hendricks, Tannis Morgan, Anne-Marie Scott, and Elizabeth Childs
   2. 13. What’s up, Doc? The Impacts of Graduate Study for Women
      Jenni Hayman
   3. 14. (Re-)Envisioning Instructor Leadership Strengthened through a Decolonizing and Culturally Responsive Lens
      Erin Keith
   4. 15. Carving Out Spaces
      Jasmine Pham
   5. 16. Breaking Barriers and Leading from the Middle: A Racialized Woman Educator’s Experiences
      Afsaneh Sharif
   6. 17. The Leadership of Walking Alongside
      Tammy Soanes-White
   7. 18. Leading at a Distance: Insights and Practical Advice for Early Career Women in Higher Education Leadership
      Connie (Levina) Yuen
   8. 19. Female Leadership in Online Education in Canada: Reflecting and Forging the Future
      Lorraine Carter, Diane Janes, and Katy Campbell
7. Conclusion
8. Contributors

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes, provided that the original author is credited.