USask education student earns national recognition

Maryam Yasinian is the recipient of the 2019 Margaret Haughey Master’s Award from the Canadian Association for Studies in Educational Administration (CASEA), as well as the Graduate Student Award from the affiliated Canadian Association for the Study of Women and Education (CASWE).

"Although self-efficacy has become one of the key variables employed to understand and facilitate people’s career development, less attention has focused on studying the relationship between self-efficacy and female academics’ career paths into leadership positions," said Yasinian. 

Both awards recognize the best master level thesis for the year. Yasinian’s supervisor, Dr. Dawn Wallin, associate dean (undergraduate programs, partnerships and research), spoke enthusiastically of the recognition.

“Although many studies of women in leadership positions in post-secondary focus on deanships and presidencies, this study highlights an under-represented area of study by focusing on middle level management positions of graduate chairs and department heads in social science and natural science colleges, thereby highlighting an under-represented area of study,” said Dr. Wallin.

“I do not make lightly a decision to nominate a student for one of our national research association awards, and Maryam’s ability to articulate and conceptualize her research was very sophisticated for a graduate student at the Masters level of study, and her passion and commitment to the topic was infectious.”

Typically, both awards are presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Education's annual conference, which has been cancelled this year due to COVID-19. Yasinian will be honoured throughout events at the 2021 conference, scheduled to be held at the University of Alberta.  

"I feel delighted and honoured. Completing my master’s degree and receiving this award provided me many valuable insights," said Yasinian.

She offered the following advice to her fellow colleagues:

"You can make wonderful things happen when you genuinely believe in your goals and stretch your brain to new limits. The work can be extremely challenging at times. Stick to it even if you feel like quitting because hard work will eventually pay off.”

Find out more about the Margaret Haughey Master’s Award here.