What Should Students Pay for University Course Readings?: An Empirical, Economic, and Legal Analysis

The digital transformation of knowledge dissemination and academic publishing have sparked copyright disputes in the educational sector related to the scope of fair dealing. This study contributes (a) an empirical basis for such discussions by analyzing 3,391 course syllabuses (2015–2020) from 34 Canadian universities, and (b) a potential resolution to the disputes to which this analysis is applied. Among the reading types, 26.6% of the syllabuses had readings from academic sources, while 8.3% of the syllabuses had media articles and trade book chapters (with some overlap). The syllabus data are used to calculate a per-page royalty charge, which is used to demonstrate a proposed three-step syllabus rule to avoid double-chargingstudents for academic materials (amounting to 90.1% of readings by pages), while fairly compensating professional authors and their publishers (9.9% of readings by pages). The three-step syllabus rule provides a sound rationale for charging each student $1.40 per year to cover royalty charges for readings assigned in Canadian university courses.

Experiences matter: Educators’ attitudes toward disability in higher education

This study investigated 128 post-secondary educators’ attitudes toward disability at a college and a university in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The participants completed the Educators’ Attitudes toward Disability Scale (EADS) and a demographic questionnaire that included questions about their experiences with disability. There were three research questions at the heart of this study: (1) What are post-secondary educators’ overall attitudes toward disability? (2) Do demographic factors predict post-secondary educators’ attitudes toward disability? (3) Does exposure to people with disability predict post-secondary educators’ attitudes toward disability? The findings of this study suggest post-secondary educators hold overallpositive attitudes toward disability and there were very few differences observed between groups (e.g., based on age, gender, discipline, etc.). Educators’ experiences with people who have a disability, however, were positively associated with their attitudes. This factor included personal experiences (e.g., friends, family, etc.), but also professional experiences (e.g., students in their classes).

Care Work and Academic Motherhood: Challenges for Research and Tenure in the Canadian University

In Canada, women are earning an increasing number of doctoral degrees; yet, they are less likely to secure a tenure-track position. A feminist thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 20 academic mothers from two Canadian universities reveals the range of challenges that mothers encounter in relation to care on the tenure-track. First, the theme of “fear of post-partum academic erasure” captured faculty mothers’ experiences of feeling compelled to assert their physical and intellectual presence in post-partum during peak periods of infant care. The second theme, “the mommy tenure track and care choices,” encapsulated academic mothers’ experiences of feeling unsupported by the university in their pursuit of promotion and tenure given care responsibilities associated with motherhood. The final theme, “research while caring,” captured the tensions academic mothers experience between the research process and caring. The findings of this research are particularly relevant in a pandemic and post-pandemic environment, where academic mothers have seen their care work swell to unprecedented proportions.

Achieving academic promotion: The role of work environment, role conflict, and life balance

Fifty-two faculty at two Canadian universities were interviewed about the impact of work environment, role conflict, and worklife balance on career-related experiences and decisions to apply for promotion to full professor. Faculty described conflicts between their academic responsibilities of teaching, research, and service (including limited time for research despite long work weeks) as well as work-life imbalance. These issues were often gendered; women took slightly longer to achieve the rank of associate professor, accepted tasks of lower reward value, held decreased expectations for promotion, and experienced workplace conflict and bullying more than their male counterparts. Even so, faculty identified colleagues as a valuable career support. Our data lead us to theorize that the decision to apply for academic promotion is informed by a cost-benefit analysis, early career experiences, conformity with academic norms that over-emphasize research productivity, as well as access to career-advancing resources (especially time for research). We recommend that the gendered nature of the academic reward system be re-imagined to promote equality, and provide suggestions as to how to do so.

Fixed Trajectories: Race, Schooling, and Graduation from a Southern Ontario University

According to Statistics Canada, during this decade (2019–2028) about 75% of new jobs will require a post-secondary education (Government of Canada, 2017). This study explores a unique dataset that follows students (n = 11,417) from a large urban school district to a local university in Southern Ontario. Using both descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression and a framework of categorical inequality (Domina et al., 2017), we examine the academic trajectories of students—particularly of Black students. Findings show that, compared to their peers, neither high school nor university programs provide Black students with the kinds of educational experiences needed for university graduation and academic success that wouldenable them to realize their fullest social and economic potentials.

Sense of Belonging and Social Climate in an Official Language Minority Post-Secondary Setting

Perceived sense of belonging and positive social climate on campus are crucial elements for post-secondary students, as they contribute to academic achievement, positive mental health, and help-seeking. Few studies have explored post-secondary students’ sense of belonging and perceptions of social climate in an official language minority campus, which attract Canadian-born francophones, anglophones who pursue higher education in their second language, and francophone international students. With declining student mental health and greater ethnolinguistic diversity of post-secondary students on Canadian campuses, this important study aims to explore francophone students’ perceived sense of belonging and social climate on campus. In total, 35 students from different ethnolinguistic backgrounds took part in focus groups or individual interviews. Domestic students with French as their first language more often reported positive social climate on campus and a sense of belonging, in contrast to international students and students with French as a second language. A common obstacle to connecting with others was language insecurity in one of the official languages, as both are currently used on campus. Universities hosting students of multiple linguistic diversities should provide courses and campus events to stimulate intercultural knowledge and dialogue.

De la prise en charge à la décolonisation : un regard rétrospectif sur cinq décennies d’éducation postsecondaire autochtone au Québec

À l’aube de la parution de la Maîtrise indienne de l’éducation indienne (1972), la poursuite d’études postsecondaires chez les Autochtones du Québec demeurait un phénomène encore récent et méconnu. Dans le contexte de prise en charge par les communautés autochtones de leurs propres services, la demande en diplômés autochtones postsecondaires s’est nettement accrue et a donné lieu à des programmes et services destinés spécifiquement aux Autochtones. On pense notamment au projet d’« amérindianisation » de l’éducation à l’UQAC en 1971, et à la création du Collège Manitou, en 1973, commetournants. La spécificité linguistique québécoise s’est d’ailleurs tôt fait sentir, ajoutant à la dimension bilingue initiale (avec le passage d’une langue autochtone à une langue allochtone) celle propre à la dualité linguistique francophone et anglophone d’un système d’enseignement issu de l’histoire coloniale.Cet article s’appuie sur une recension des écrits concernant l’éducation postsecondaire autochtone au Québec de 1972 à 2021. Nous articulons notre analyse autour des changements qui se sont opérés au fil des dernières décennies concernant les programmes destinés aux Autochtones, les services offerts par les établissements, ainsi que les enjeux impliquant les parcours des étudiants autour de l’identité autochtone, du racisme systémique et de la discrimination. Nous constatons qu’en dépit des efforts soutenus d’un nombre croissant d’établissements, les Autochtones connaissent des entraves à la poursuite d’études postsecondaires encore bien présentes. Nous concluons avec une réflexion sur l’université et le cégep comme institutions, leur modèle de développement et leur rôle dans la décolonisation de l’éducation et la démocratisation scolaire.