Graduate student Ingrid Robinson has won CAUT’s annual J.H. Stewart Reid Memorial Fellowship to continue work on her PhD in Educa­tional Studies at St. Francis Xavier University this fall.

Her research is centred on the professional and personal factors that have positioned Aboriginal women as leaders in one edu­cational autho­rity in At­lantic Canada.

“Women are proportionately un­derrepresented in principal positions in schools and women from racialized minorities are even less represented,” Robinson said. “However, within the Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey educational authority, Aboriginal women hold 70 per cent of all principal positions. Such stories of Aboriginal women’s empowerment reflect the hope and possi­bility for more equitable representation of both women and Aboriginal peoples in educational leadership within Canadian society, but we need to learn how these women became successful and how this can benefit learning experiences for women pursuing leadership positions in educational institutions.”

Robinson holds a BA from Dalhousie University, a BEd from Acadia University, and received a MEd from St. Francis Xavier University in 2012. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and con­tributed to academic conferences internationally. Funding for her research has been awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Federation of University Women, among others. She also has a longstanding interest in culturally-responsive pedagogy and most recently spearheaded efforts to design and implement the national Positive Youth Development Curriculum for Belize.