Kimberly Elias-Cartwright - Experiential Learning for All! An Institutional Analysis of How University Administrators Responded to the Ontario Government's Call to Action (Mock Oral)
Despite the literature suggesting that policy tools are limited in their ability to influence institutional behaviours, governments in Western, liberal democracies-such as Ontario-are increasingly leveraging policy tools to influence university priorities and actions. In this session, hear findings from a study that explores the gap between policy tools being made and their implementation through an analysis of how five Ontario universities responded to the government's experiential learning (EL) call to action in 2016-2019. In particular, this study explores how administrators balance government calls for accountability and transparency with university structures and cultures. By leveraging theoretical and conceptual constructs from institutional theory, learn about findings that contribute to our understanding of the influence of policy tools and institutional change.
This session will be moderated by Professor Leesa Wheelahan from Leadership, Higher, and Adult Education (LHAE) at OISE.
About the speaker
Kimberly Elias-Cartwright
Kimberly Elias-Cartwright is the Manager, Strategic Initiatives for Student Life at the University of Toronto, where she works on facilitating a variety of strategic administrative projects to help advance the goals and priorities of the Division and University. Previously, she helped implement Co-Curricular Record at the University of Toronto and a suite of Engaged Learning Tools at the University of California, San Diego. She has her final oral exam for her PhD dissertation on August 4th, 2021 and is looking forward to sharing her research as she prepares for her defense.