Nyasha Nyereyemhuka
Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership Studies
MEd Brock University, BCom McMaster University
Nyasha Nyereyemhuka
Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership Studies
MEd Brock University, BCom McMaster University
Nyasha holds a PhD in the Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership stream as well as a Masters of Education degree from Brock University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University. During her tenure at Western, she was fortunate to work under the supervision of Dr. Augusto Riveros.
Over the past eight years, Nyasha’s academic and professional careers have reflected intersecting interests in education leadership and the socio-cultural context of education. Her positionality as a Black woman researcher and experience listening to the narratives of racialized colleagues, has laid the foundation for her particular interest in this area and convictions to claim space for the voices that are underrepresented in education research. Utilizing an emancipatory worldview that is further guided by a culturally relevant-and-responsive lens, Nyasha’s interest in addressing educational inequities at the K-12 school level has increasingly been centered on positioning the experiences of racialized leaders to the fore of contemporary discourse. Further, her research portfolio as an emerging scholar has developed from addressing questions centered on policy enactment to interrogating the boundaries of exclusion embedded in school leader preparation programs, leadership frameworks, methods of policy analysis, and the understanding of principal professional identities. Notably, the findings of Nyasha’s research projects address critical gaps in education leadership and administration literature and highlight divergences in the field.
Memberships
- Canadian Association for Study of Educational Administration
- Canadian Society for the Study of Education
- American Educational Research Association
- British Educational Research Association
- European Educational Research Association
- Black Canadian Studies Association
- Critical Race Studies in Education Association
- Urban Alliance on Race Relations
Augusto Riveros, PhD
Supervisor
Research
Doctoral Research
Nyasha’s doctoral research, entitled Embracing the Race: How Black Women Principals Construct Their Professional Identities in Ontario Schools, explores the intersection of three multifaceted lines of educational leadership inquiry: principals, professional identity, and gendered racism. Although developments in provincial and school-level policies have increased the number of Black leaders in Canadian K-12 schools, research on Black women leaders continues to be disproportionality underrepresented in education leadership and administration (ELA) research. Of the studies conducted on Black principals, the intersection of their race-and-gendered identity markers are not adequately addressed nor presented in most literature, particularly in spaces where the study of principals’ professional identities is linked to achieving school reform initiatives. While the extant literature on school improvement acknowledges principals as key sources of knowledge, there remains a space in ELA literature for a deeper interrogation of Black women principals’ professional identities in a Canadian context. In response to this gap in the literature, the present qualitative study uses a narrative life history approach to examine how seven Black women principals construct their professional identities in Ontario school districts. Focusing on the historical, political, and sociocultural tensions that encompass the race-and-gendered identity of the Black woman, this study draws on the tenets of intersectionality as a conceptual framework for situating the narratives shared by participants. Findings from semi-structured interviews reveal that Black women obtain leadership positions based on contingent situations and context-related circumstances, that is, through shoulder tapping or employment equity initiatives—where being at the right place at the right time affords them entrance into leadership. When finally in these roles, Black women must then construct their professional identities in racially contentious environments characterized by a lack of organizational supports, absence of mentorship, and limited career advancement opportunities. All while simultaneously being held to higher standards of practice than their counterparts. This dissertation offers novel strategies for re-examining professional standards outlined in the Ontario Leadership Framework, the deployment of school board mentorship programs, and principal recruitment processes. Given that school improvement initiatives identify principals as key agents for change, this study provides significant insights and contributions for leadership theorization, school leader preparation program development, and practitioners’ understanding of principal practices in Ontario’s K-12 public schools.
The contributions of this work intend to speak to a wide audience of policymakers, school leader preparation educators, graduate students, existing and aspiring principals, and researchers interested in leadership for social justice and equity.
Research Interests
- K-12 school leadership and governance
- Anti-oppressive and anti-racist education
- Workplace learning
- Social science research methods
- Culturally responsive schooling
- Policy analysis
Course Work Completed
- Critical Policy Studies in Education
- Equity & Social Justice in Education
- PhD Seminar
- Qualitative Research in Education
- Social Context of Education
Awards
2024-present—Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, $70,000 (CAD)
2022-2023—Ontario Graduate Scholarship, $15,000 (CAD)
2020-2021—Ontario Graduate Scholarship, $15,000 (CAD)
2020-2021—Dr. Allen Pearson Graduate Award in Educational Leadership, Western University $1,500 (CAD
2019-2020—Graduate Research Scholarship, Western University, $9,896 (CAD)
2018-2019—Dean of Graduate Studies Spring Research Fellowship, Brock University, $4,000 (CAD)
2016-2017—Dean of Graduate Studies Entrance Scholarship, Brock University, $2,000 (CAD)
2015-2016—Dean’s Honour List, McMaster University
2012-2013—Infundo Ephakemeyo Scholarship, Infundo Ephakemeyo, $1,000 (CAD)
2012-2013—Honour Award, McMaster University, $750 (CAD)
Conferences Attended
Nyereyemhuka, N. (Accepted, April 2024). The power of identity you cannot see: How Black women principals negotiate micropolitics in “relationship discourses”. Forthcoming paper presentation for the annual meeting of the European Educational Research Association, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2024, June). On the outside looking in: The necessity of race-and-gendered mentorship for Black women principals. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Montreal, Québec.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2023, September). Embracing the race: How Black women principals construct their professional identities in Ontario schools. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the British Educational Research Association, Birmingham, England.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2023, May). Demystifying the Black excellence effect: Black women principals’ pursuit of organizational support. Paper presentation at the annual meeting of the Black Canadian Studies Association, Toronto, Ontario.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2023, January). We are hiring principals, but they are not applying. Oral presentation for Retiring with Strong Minds of Schulich Medicine and Dentistry, Online.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2022, September). Towards an intersectional perspective: The incorporation of intersectionality in policy enactment frameworks. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the European Educational Research Association, Yerevan, Armenia.
Briscoe, P., & Nyereyemhuka, N. (2022, May). Turning leadership upside down and outside in: A change in leadership beliefs during a pandemic. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Online.
Riveros, A., & Nyereyemhuka, N. (Accepted, March 2022). Using the notion of place to investigate the experiences of immigrant parents in schools. Paper to be presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association*, San Diego, California. *Withdrawn due to COVID-19.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2021, May). Meaningful space: The impact of space and place in principals’ policy implementation practices. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Online.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2020, March). Earning their stripes: The recruitment and retention of Black principals in rural settings. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Robert Macmillan Symposium in Education, London, Ontario.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2019, April). Student equity and inclusive education policy in Ontario: Perspectives of three high school principals. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mapping the New Knowledges Graduate Student Research Conference, St. Catharines, Ontario.Publications
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2024). Embracing the race: How Black women principals construct their professional identities in Ontario schools [Doctoral dissertation, Western University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
Riveros, A., & Nyereyemhuka, N. (2023). Exploring the significance of ‘place’ for culturally sensitive research. In E. Samier, & S. E. Elkaleh (Eds.) Culturally sensitive research methods for educational administration and leadership: International perspectives on theory and practice (pp. 47-66). UK: Routledge.
Riveros, A., & Nyereyemhuka, N. (2023). Conceptualizing space in educational administration and leadership research: Towards a spatial justice perspective. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 26(4), 666-679.
Briscoe, P., & Nyereyemhuka, N. (2022). Turning leadership upside down and outside in: A change in leadership beliefs during a pandemic. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 200, 104-114.
Briscoe, P., Osmond-Johnston, P., & Nyereyemhuka, N. (Eds.). (2022). Special issue: Pivotal leadership during a pandemic: Impacts on educational administration and educational policy in Canada. Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy, 200.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2019). Review of navigating uncertainty: Sensemaking for educational leaders. [Review of Navigating uncertainty: Sensemaking for educational leaders by S. Hasinoff, & D. Mandzuk], Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Leadership, 192, 86-89.
Nyereyemhuka, N. (2019). Student equity and inclusive education policy in Ontario: Perspectives of three high school principals [Master’s thesis, Brock University]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
