Canadian Journal of Higher Education

Seven Key Strategies for Building Applied Research Capacity at your Canadian College

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Canadian colleges play an increasingly vital role in applied research, supporting regional innovation through partnerships with industry, community, and government. Backed by programs like the Tri-Agency College and Community Innovation (CCI) fund, colleges have expanded beyond their teaching mandates to tackle real-world challenges through practical, solution-focused research. However, many institutions still face barriers due to limited internal resources, inconsistent faculty engagement, and administrative structures designed primarily for education. This paper outlines seven key strategies identified by Canadian college research leaders to build and strengthen applied research capacity: (a) focus on core funding programs, (b) align with federal priorities while exploring other sources, (c) engage local industry and community, (d) integrate research with student programming, (e) collaborate with internal departments, (f) leverage marketing to promote impact, and (g) learn from established institutions and associations. These strategies offer a roadmap for colleges at any stage of research development to enhance sustainability, relevance, and long-term impact.

A New Academic Term and A New Issue of CJHE/RCES

Michelle K. McGinn — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Compte rendu de livre « Référentiel de compétences pour la gouvernance et le leadership en milieu universitaire : compétences professionnelles et transversales à la gestion d’un établissement d’enseignement supérieur »

Martino Vidot — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Book Review of "Experiential Learning and Community: Examining the University’s Teaching Mission"

Shuai Yu — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Barriers Experienced by Undergraduate Students to Access Summer Research Positions in Musculoskeletal Science and Proposed Solutions

Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Summer research positions provide undergraduate students with formative research experiences, yet particular groups remain under-represented in securing these placements. This study sought to explore how faculty and students experienced the recruitment of summer research students in a musculoskeletal science context, and to identify potential solutions to support increased enrolment from under-represented student groups. A sequential research design was used. First, a survey was administered to inquire about current recruitment processes and suggestions for process changes, which then informed the content of semi-structured interviews with students and faculty. Participants were recruited via institute mailing lists, posters, and respondent-driven sampling. Thematic analysis was applied to interview transcripts. A review of student survey responses (n = 26) identified that the most common method to secure summer research positions was through unsolicited emails to faculty. The majority (62%) responded they were satisfied with the recruitment process, but almost half (46%) reported it was not fair to all students. Thirteen students and seven faculty participated in interviews. Six themes presented areas to address: hidden recruitment processes, timing of applications, emailing, connections, grade point average, and low compensation. Students proposed the implementation of a web-based platform and a networking event to improve the recruitment process; however, faculty had reservations about these solutions. A multi-component strategy leveraging an equity framework and enhanced student engagement from under-represented student groups in all aspects of design is required. This strategy should include improved transparency of application processes, targeted recruitment, and adequate compensation to increase accessibility to summer research positions in musculoskeletal science among under-represented student groups.

L’université comme lieu de discrimination et espace de rencontres : les membres des Premières Nations face au racisme systémique

Léa Lefevre-Radelli — Sat, 11 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In Canada, inequalities in access to post-secondary education between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals persist despite efforts at institutional openness. This article, the result of qualitative research conducted between 2014 and 2019, analyzes the testimonies of 21 First Nations students who studied at French-language universities in Montreal. Drawing on the analysis of systemic racism and microaggressions, the analysis highlights several dimensions of the participants' experience: in addition to explicit and implicit prejudice on the part of some professors and students, they express a sense of isolation, the burden of awareness and the weight of stigmatization.

Despite these difficulties, participants also stressed the importance of support and recognition. The university thus appears both as a place where racism is reproduced and as a possible space for dialogue and transformation. These findings confirm the need to “analyze power imbalances, institutional discrimination (...) and colonial relations” (NAHO, 2008, p. 4), in order to put in place truly inclusive and equitable university policies.

Naviguer, résister, aspirer : une lecture critique de l’engagement étudiant des populations plurilingues du collégial québécois ayant un parcours d’immigration

Emilie Doutreloux, Aristide Sorelle Tsayem Tchoupou — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Students from linguistic minority backgrounds with immigrant trajectories remain under researched, under considered, and underserved, both by higher education institutions and within research addressing access to and inclusion in postsecondary education. Often viewed through a lens centered on challenges and structural barriers, they are also frequently described as resilient, capable of adapting despite inequalities. This article is situated within a tension between individual resilience and institutional inertia and explores the forms of student engagement adopted by plurilingual students in Quebec’s college system. Drawing on Yosso’s (2005) reconceptualization of cultural capital, the study adopts a critical perspective to analyze how different forms of cultural capital are mobilized to support persistence throughout educational pathways. Analysis of interviews conducted across 13 colleges reveals marked forms of engagement, particularly behavioral and agentic, while affective engagement linked to a sense of belonging remains limited. These forms of engagement rely on a strong activation of navigational and resistant capital, deployed to cope with linguistic demands, implicit institutional norms, and dynamics of exclusion. From practical, theoretical, and epistemological perspectives, the findings call for greater recognition and valuing of the often invisible cultural resources mobilized by plurilingual students.

Disaggregating Distress Among International and Domestic University Students: Social and Academic Correlates

Ann Mullen, Yifang Li — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

International students often confront distinctive cultural, linguistic, financial, and academic challenges that may heighten vulnerability to emotional strain and academic overwhelm. Yet research on international student mental health and well-being is mixed and often neglects variation within this population, comparisons with domestic students, or the social and academic factors that may shape disparities in distress. Drawing on survey data from undergraduate students at a large university in southern Ontario, we examine distress among domestic students and three subgroups of international students: those from China, South Asia, and other regions. We assess how social background and academic preparation, campus involvement, and experiences of racism and discrimination shape disparities in reported distress. We find substantial variation, both between domestic and international students and across international student subgroups. Social and academic advantages and extracurricular participation are associated with lower distress, while exposure to racism and discrimination is strongly linked to higher distress.

Improving Access to Post-Secondary Education Among Care-Experienced Youth: A Qualitative Exploration of Tuition Waiver Programs in Atlantic Canada

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Access to post-secondary education (PSE) can significantly change the life course of care-experienced youth (CEY) in Canada, yet most do not complete high school and few pursue higher education. This article draws on 26 in-depth interviews with CEY (n = 8) and staff/supporters (n = 18) involved in tuition waiver programs and related post-secondary and community-based supports across Atlantic Canada. Using thematic analysis, our team identified key barriers including limited program awareness and uptake, educational costs beyond tuition, uneven navigation and mentoring supports, limited data tracking, and inconsistent eligibility policies and success indicators across programs. Greater cross-jurisdictional coordination and shared indicators of educational success are warranted.

Does Being Yourself Matter? Authenticity as a Mediator Between Psychological Needs and Autonomous Motivation in Post-Secondary Students

Rebecca Sullivan, Rylee Oram , Jessica Garant, Isabelle Green-Demers — Thu, 07 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The current study aimed to expand understanding of the associations between psychological needs, authenticity, and autonomous motivation in two domains relevant to post-secondary students: academics and friendships. Self-determination theory suggests that need satisfaction supports behaving consistently with one’s authentic values. While research shows need satisfaction as an antecedent to autonomous motivation, authenticity’s role in this relationship remains unexplored. We tested a conceptual model examining authenticity aspects (authentic living, self-alienation, accepting external influence) as mediators between need satisfaction and autonomous academic and friendship motivation, as well as the direct associations between variables. It was hypothesized that need satisfaction would relate positively to both types of motivation through authenticity aspects. Hypotheses were largely supported for friendship, but not for academics. Results suggest that living authentically plays a key role in explaining the relationship between need satisfaction and post-secondary students’ autonomous friendship motivation, but that these processes may differ in other life contexts.

Restratification in Academia: The Struggle for Professional Identity

Anne-Marie Bresee, Tracey Adams — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The academic workplace is a space of tension as work and professional goals clash with organizational logic. Neo-liberal managerial philosophy of casualization, efficiency, and work intensification amplifies the inequalities in the division of labour created by two-tiered hiring practices within the academic profession. This article adds to the growing body of literature that examines the effects of precarity within a profession. It explores professional restratification of academia through in-depth interviews in which professors, employed at two Ontario universities, discuss perceptions of their own roles and professional identity within the academic workplace. Findings suggest everyday experiences in academia reflect agentic perspectives and behaviours of both contract and tenured professors as they endeavour to sustain their professional identities.

“For the longest time, I felt like I had no allies”: Stigmatization and Recognition of Jewish Faculty in Canadian Higher Education

Lilach Marom, Leor Elizur, Cary Kogan — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the experiences of Jewish faculty in Canadian higher education following the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023. Drawing on Lamont’s sociology of recognition, the study utilizes national survey data and in-depth interviews to examine how stigmatization operates across four interconnected layers: spatial, policy, cultural, and interpersonal. Findings reveal a multilayered assault of worth, marked by declining physical and emotional safety, limited institutional recognition of antisemitism, exclusion from dominant academic milieus, and breakdown of collegial relationships. A central site of tension concerns anti-Zionism, which has become a boundary for recognition and belonging within many academic spaces. The study argues that prevailing policy frameworks, while oriented toward greater inclusion, inadequately account for Jewish identity and can inadvertently reproduce exclusion. Addressing Jewish inclusion requires meaningful education, policy revision, and relational practices that expand cultural membership and reaffirm dignity, recognition, and shared humanity in higher education.
Keywords: stigmatization, recognitio

Using Podcast Pedagogies to Disrupt and Reimagine the Course Syllabi and Community Work

Manu Sharma, Ardavan Eizadrad — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines audio and video podcasting as a transformative pedagogical tool for social justice education, knowledge mobilization, and community engagement with a focus on the Canadian context. Using a duo-ethnographic approach, the authors reflect on their experiences as racialized professors, podcast producers, and scholar-activists to explore how podcasting disrupts traditional teaching, amplifies counternarratives, and bridges academic and community knowledge. Grounded in intersectional and activist pedagogies, the analysis identifies three key themes: podcasting as resistance to epistemic erasure, as a practice for community-building and solidarity, and as a space for modelling vulnerability as a form of strength and facilitating critical conversations for advocacy and healing purposes. The article also addresses tensions surrounding power, ethics, and academic legitimacy. It concludes by calling for greater institutional recognition for pedagogical value of podcasting, ethical frameworks to guide its use, and continued research on its transformative impact.

Effectiveness of and Lessons Learned from an Online Science Communication (SciComm) Program for Graduate Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows

Brittney G. Borowiec, Allison McDonald — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Despite clear mandates from funding bodies and other institutions encouraging researchers to engage in science communication and outreach, formal opportunities for science communication training are rare and/or piecemeal in most academic science departments. We designed, facilitated, and evaluated an intensive online science writing program for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. The program blended practical exercises such as writing and peer-editing blog articles with biweekly workshop sessions lead by experts in science communication. Pre- and post-program surveys revealed considerable advancement in trainees’ self-assessed knowledge, skills, and confidence in science communication, particularly science writing, blogging, and journalism, with completion of the program. We also reflect upon the overall process of the program, including the challenges of building community and maintaining engagement in an online environment. Online intensive training programs, such as the one piloted here, may be a viable and accessible model for the teaching and learning of science communication skills.

Prise en compte du développement des compétences langagières dans les cursus de formation en enseignement du Québec : une analyse lexicométrique

François Vincent, Myriam Villeneuve-Lapointe, Vincent Grenon, Julie Babin — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

There are different structures of teacher education programs in Quebec, but all must be based on the Référentiel des compétences professionnelles pour la profession enseignante (professional competency framework for the teaching profession). Among the competencies it outlines, the development of language competencies (DLC) in future teachers is considered a key foundation. To examine how DLC (mastery of norms, academic literacy, professional uses, and a positive relationship with the language) is addressed in training programs, we conducted a lexicometric analysis of various course descriptors. The analysis of those referring to DLC (n = 795) made it possible to identify factors and oppositions highlighted on factorial planes. The results show that certain aspects of DLC—particularly adherence to linguistic norms—are confined to specific courses rather than integrated across the curriculum. The analysis also reveals tensions between essential components of language competencies, such as reading and writing, and the descriptors of courses in disciplinary domains such as mathematics. Finally, even within the French discipline itself, a contrast emerges between the teaching of literature and that of language. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of coherently integrating language competencies throughout teacher education curricula.

Crisis, Alignment, and Control: Reframing Open Education in Ontario’s Virtual Learning Strategy

Mara De Giusti Bordignon — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines how open education, including open educational resources and practices, was reframed within Ontario’s Virtual Learning Strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a qualitative case study informed by the multiple streams framework and the concept of discursive agency, it analyzes how eCampusOntario leveraged the pandemic as a policy window to elevate open education on the provincial agenda. The findings show that open education, historically associated with equity, access, and participatory pedagogy, was recast as a cost-effective, scalable, and system-compatible solution aligned with performance metrics and digital governance priorities. While this reframing enabled rapid institutional uptake and centralized investment, it also narrowed open education’s social justice ambitions. This study highlights how crisis-driven policy convergence can legitimize innovation while constraining its transformative potential, offering insights for policy makers and educators navigating equity-oriented reforms in performance-driven post-secondary systems.

Spatial Awareness, Intersectionality, and the Campus Map: Centralizing Space in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Robert Mizzi, Ehsan Akbari, Tannaz Zargarian, Christopher Yendt — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Canadian universities continue to strive to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in higher education through their policies and programs. While these efforts can increase access and reduce discrimination and inequity facing marginalized students, critiques highlight these efforts as being overly simplistic or too generic. Further, the current literature around EDI discourses pays little attention to the spatial dimensions of marginalization. This project aims to identify how campus geography contributes to students’ experiences of oppression and inclusion. For this study, 22 students from diverse backgrounds were recruited from three Manitoba universities and interviewed about their experiences of marginalization, with a particular focus on how campus spaces shape identity and belonging. The findings suggested that (a) multiplicity is erased in participants’ interpretations of campus spaces, (b) spatial and social diversity shape student involvement, and (c) access and accessibility remain an ongoing concern. Based on these findings, the authors argue that an intersectional spatial analysis can potentially assist EDI efforts at Canadian universities.