This qualitative study explored the conceptualizations of career development success among young women who had formerly aged-out of out-of-home care settings in Canada, addressing the central question: How do young people who were formerly in out-of-home care and self-identify as experiencing career development success conceptualize their career…

As women secondary school principals navigate their career paths and manage their work-life roles, they encounter varied obstacles and barriers requiring them to shift, pause, restart and maneuver to reach their goals. The purpose of this qualitative study is to capture an understanding of how women secondary school principals in British Columbia,…

This study delves into the complex dynamics of leadership within Alberta's K-12 education system, specifically focusing on the relationship between age, gender, maternity and parental leaves and women's career progression. Using an explanatory mixed-method approach, comprising a survey of 416 educational leaders and two focus groups of 20 women in…

The term glass ceiling refers to existing artificial barriers to entry into leadership positions (Wilson, 2014, Booth, 2007). The quest for equity and social justice in educational leadership positions by racialized women, defined in this study as non-white, non-First Nations women, is the focus of this comparative case study. The key source of…

A core mode of governance in the era of neoliberalism is through the production of "entrepreneurial self". This paper explores how the "entrepreneurial self" is produced for 21 Chinese immigrant women in Canada. The women displayed extraordinary entrepreneurialism by investing in Canadian education. Becoming entrepreneurial,…

This paper provides a view of the experiences of former high school apprentices in Canada. Conceptually, we draw on the work of Bourdieu with particular attention to vocational habitus, as well as feminist writers who discuss the gendered construction of skill and gender relations in the workplace and family. Empirically, we present our analysis…

In 2014, the provincial government of Manitoba announced new initiatives to encourage young women to explore a career in non-traditional trades. While new government funding programs and job opportunities are laudable, there will not be a significant increase of female enrolment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields…

This article explores the learning pathways of 15 Canadian and American female crime fiction authors. Using a critical feminist perspective, it argues that despite the neoliberal rhetoric of individual choice, as in most careers, there are social-structural factors that create opportunities and barriers for women mystery writers. The article…

Our research situates, contextualizes, and analyzes the lived experiences of ten female academics who were among the first women in the academic discipline of educational administration in seven of the ten provinces in Canada. Using institutional ethnography and life history to inform our analysis, this article explores three of the themes that…

As of July 2011, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) reported 17 of Canada's 95 universities were led by women. While this represents considerable change from 1974, when Pauline Jewett became the first woman president to lead a co-educational Canadian university, progress for women climbing the educational leadership…

Women are "starkly underrepresented" as researchers worldwide ("The World's Women 2010," 68). In Canada, for example, men hold over three-quarters of full professorships and top research positions. Dozens of interconnected factors restrain women's research careers. These include "upstream" factors, such as gender,…

In this paper, we examine the nature and extent of participation of Canadian young women and men in science-based academic fields. Informed by Bourdieu's theory of cultural reproduction, we focus on three key stages--senior secondary school, the transition to post-secondary studies, and the post-secondary completion stage--to determine whether and…

The internationalization of higher education has led to changing roles for academics, including opportunities to participate in international projects. The extent to which academics feel prepared to enter this arena has received little attention. This study examines women academics' perceptions of barriers to, facilitators of, and career benefits…

A career assessment plan that takes into account life experiences, personal circumstances, self-esteem, barriers, expectations, and feelings of those being assessed is more reflective of the whole person. Therefore, a plan can be formulated that is tailored to meet the career development needs of the participant. (Author/JOW)

Eighteen female students participated in a study that used grounded theory methodology to explore how relationships are involved in women's career development. Results show that relationships are important both in terms of how occupations are chosen and the influence people have on self-knowledge development and career decisions. (Author/MKA)