Students and Alumni
We accepted our first students in the late spring of 2000, and our first graduate was Dr. Elizabeth S. Kelley in May 2005. At any given time, there are generally 25-35 active students in the program. Our student body is about 60:40 women to men; about one-third of our students come from outside Nova Scotia, and about ten percent from outside Canada, with countries of origin including Germany, Georgia, South Africa, and the U.S.A. The average age is around 38.
Some of our students have followed a traditional higher education route. Still, many have extensive professional experience, including small business ownership, consulting, military experience, political and governmental leadership, and college/university teaching. Entering students typically have Master's degrees from any range of subject areas, including Adult Education, Behavior in Organizations, Business Administration, Industrial Psychology, Industrial Relations, International Development Studies, Psychology, and other related areas.
Leila A. Jamjoom
2015-2020
Successfully defended May 2020
University of Business and Technology; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: Master of Business AdministrationDar Al-Hekma University; Jeddah, Saudi Arabia:Bachelor of Science in Banking and Finance
Research Interests:
My research interests include gender and diversity in organization studies, leadership, and human resource management in Non-Western contexts. My dissertation investigated the narratives of Saudi women leaders in the workplace, in an effort to surface alternative knowledge(s) and deconstruct the academic imperialism of Management Organization Studies (MOS).
What has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
The PhD program has encouraged me to participate in a number of national and international conferences (e.g., Administrative Sciences Association of Canada ASAC, Philosophy of Management Conference, and the International Critical Management Conference). These opportunities allowed me to not only engage with my own work at a deeper level, but to also become involved in other researcher’s work. By doing so, I became a better reviewer and writer, and was also exposed to research from various paradigms of thought.
Blake Kanewicher
2018-Current
Research Interests:
Ethics in AI, management education, and LGBTQ+ issues in management
What has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
The Sobey PhD program has helped me see beyond—it’s not limited to positivist, quantitative research, and the professors will support your presentations and publications. The expectation is that you will transform during the program, new research interests will emerge, and you will take your place alongside your colleagues. Ethics of AI, management education, and LGBTQ+ issues in management
Soheil Ahmadi
2019-Current
Mechanical Engineering- Sahid Rajee University, MBA-University of Tehran
Research Interests:
Informal economy in sub-Saharan Africa’s context, the informal firms’ formalization decision and its determinants, as well as measuring informal firms’ performance and its determinants are among the topics that I am researching. Meanwhile, the financial sustainability of social enterprises and the paradox between their social and economic objectives, as well as the social impact measurement and social enterprise governance is another research pipeline that I am investing my time in it.
What has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
Saint Mary’s University Ph.D. in Management program has been an extraordinary learning opportunity for me. The outstanding, supportive, and lovely faculty members provide Ph.D. students with the best possible training, which well prepares them to conduct quality research.
Shelley T. Price
2013-2020
Successfully defended September 2020
Research Interests:
Indigenous storytelling leadership; Inuit traditional knowledge; Anti-discrimination, anti-oppression, anti-exploitation; Nurturing safe(r), healthier, diverse, sustainable spaces; Ways of being, doing, knowing, and relating
What has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
The multi-paradigmatic program offered me the flexibility to explore wisdoms from within my own cultural traditions and my own healing journey. I was blessed to have a compassionate and wise dissertation supervisor and dissertation committee who not only respect my attempt to employ decolonized research approaches, but who have also offered constructive critique to inspire my long loving deeply contemplative learning journey.
Nicholous M. Deal
2016-Current
Bachelor of Theology (Northeast Christian College), BBA (Mount Saint Vincent University), MBA/PhD (Saint Mary's University).
Research Interests:
Management and organizational history; actor-network theory; critical historiography; historiography; gender, diversity, and inclusion; history of management education.
What Has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
What attracted me to the Sobey PhD was its sterling international reputation of promoting an inclusive pedagogical philosophy, exposing students to paradigmatic pluralism. Through an intimate setting of small cohorts and mutual respect, I was able to stretch the limits of my thinking beyond mainstream traditions and discover the value of alternative approaches to research.
I was drawn to the PhD program because it both encourages and promotes multiple philosophical views of the sources of knowledge, the means of discovery and the modes of sharing. I also appreciated the small, international cohorts, which allowed us as students to talk and thoroughly debate scholarship from a variety of vantage points and with an appreciation for differing worldviews. I have had mentors who have been encouraging and have allowed me to pursue my own research agenda and interests. I have been impressed with how well our PhD program is appreciated in an international environment. This has opened doors for me to attend conferences, publish papers and book chapters, and even earn top scholarly awards.
Randy Delorey
2009-Current
Francis Xavier University, Université de Moncton
Research interests:
Privacy Management, Organization Culture, Organization Climate, Generations in the Workforce, Evidence Based Decision Making
What Has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
The equitable exposure to qualitative and quantitative research methods.
René Arseneault
2016-Current
Research interests:
Cross-cultural personality differences, cross-cultural recruitment and selection, cross-cultural impression management, organizational behavior, industrial organizational psychology, the dark triad.
What Has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
The biggest asset of the program for me has been its broad interdisciplinary nature. This asset has enabled me to combine both my Psychology and Business interests in my research and thesis. It also creates an opportunity to collaborate on various projects with other students in the program and across departments.
Nicole Morris
2013-Current
Siena College, BSBA in Accounting. Marist University, MBA
Research interests:
Certified B Corporations, small-to-medium sized businesses and sustainability practices, Appreciative Inquiry.
What Has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
The structured face-to-face coursework was the strongest asset of the program. It fostered strong faculty relationships and due to the small cohort size, students were able to engage deeply in critical thinking and demonstrate personal accountability.
Ellen C. Shaffner
2016-Current
Dalhousie University; Bachelor of Arts, with Honours, Saint Mary’s University; Masters in Business
Research interests:
Intersectionality, organizational history, organizational behaviour, diversity and discrimination. My dissertation topic is centered on fusing intersectionality and an amodern approach to the past as a novel methodology for historical organizational studies.
What Has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
The biggest asset of the program for me has been the international reputation of the Sobey PhD among critical management scholars. This network has been invaluable. The support and mentorship of program alumni has also been a very positive part of my PhD experience.
Tianyuan Yu
2015-Currrent
Research interests:
Tianyuan’s research interests include management spirituality and religion, gender and diversity in organizations, management and organizational history, management education and pedagogy, cross-cultural management, and multi-paradigm research methodology. She is currently engaged in a research project on how the wisdom-enhancing teaching practice in North American Zen centers informs management education and androgynous leadership.
What Has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
A multi-paradigm research orientation that distinguishes Sobey PhD from ordinary mainstream PhD programs, and a meaningful connection with my amazing supervisor & cohort members.
Kerry Hendricks
2017-Current
University of the West Indies (Mona) - BSc, Rutgers Graduate School of Management - MBA, CPA (Maryland DLLR)
Ian Kamp
2018-Current
Saint Mary’s University, Dalhousie University (and Dalhousie Agricultural Campus)
Research interests:
This can be quite broad as it is your self stated interests and not necessarily what you are currently working on or writing your dissertation topic on. If this has been decided, it should be included. Strategy, Strategy-as-Practice, Top Management Teams, Behavioural Integration, Institutional Theory, strategic change, resistance to change, and Power & Politics.
Aisha Leon
2018-Current
The University of London- Institute of Education- MA, The University of Windsor- Bed, York University- BA
Research Interests:
Social Innovation, Gender and Entrepreneurship, Education
Pham My Hanh
2016-Current
Research interests:
leadership, social entrepreneurship, gender and postcolonial studies.
What Has been the biggest asset of the program for you?
The program helps me to broaden my horizons, build up a critical lens in research, and explore the world differently beyond the mainstream tradition.
Students by year:
2018 Ian Kamp |
2019
Soheil Ahmadi |
2020 Chiedza Chigumba |
2015 Liela Jamjoom |
2016 Rene Arseneault |
2017 Pham My Hanh |
2012 Kristene Coller Rhonda Dever Ken Hudson Ryan MacNeil Corinne McNally Dr. Danielle Mercer |
2013 Caterina Bettin Kothai Kumanan Nicole Morris Shelley Price Wes Sallenback |
2014 Dr. Cara Lynn Scheuer Annika Voltan Nina Winham |
2009 Randy Delorey Dr. Kim Myrick Karen K. Stone Dr. Heidi Weigand |
2010 Dr. Larry Corrigan Dr. Cathy Fitzgerald Merle Fuller Birgit Pfeiffer Ikiene Sentime Dr. Shannon Webb |
2011 Dr. Jason Foster Dr. Isabella Krysa John McNamara Rob Murray Dr. Mariana Paludi Michelle Thomason Trung Le Kien |
2006 Dr. Shelagh Campbell Dr. Trish McLaren Dr. William Murray Rhonda Pyper Dr. Adam Rostis |
2007 Dr. Salvador Barragan Dr. Arlene Haddon Angela Hope Dr. Doreen MacAulay Dr. Donna Parsons |
2008 Dr. Marcelle Allen Dr. Chris Hartt David Iremadze Dr. Susan Myrden Dr. Kathy Sanderson |
2003 Dr. Ellen Rudderham-Gaudet Dr. Jim Grant Dr. Margaret McKee Dr. Amy Thurlow Dr. Peggy Wallace |
2004 Dr.Connie Bygrave Dr. Wendy Carroll Alan Fraser Kerriann Henneberry Clare Keating Jason Lecoure Dr. Bally Thun Dr. Amy Warren |
2005 Dr. Janet Bell Crawford Dr. Gabie Durepos Dr. Brad Long Dr. Elizabeth McLeod Kakha Shengelia Dr. Anthony R. Yue |
2000 Dr. Ramon Baltazar Dov Bercovici Jules Fauteau Dr. Gina Grandy Dr. Elizabeth Kelley Caroline O'Connell |
2001 Dr. Angela Bissonnette Dr. Manon LeBlanc Dr. Leroy Lowe Greg Marshall Dr. Jane Mullen Dr. Mary Runte |
2002 Dr. Kelly Dye Dr. Scott MacMillan Dr. Natalie Vladi Dr. Terrance Weatherbee |
As part of the professional development aspect of the program, students in the Sobey Ph.D. are actively encouraged to develop and submit articles to academic conferences and peer-reviewed publication. Conferences that students have presented at include:
- Academy of Management(AoM)
- Administrative Sciences Association of Canada(ASAC)
- American Psychological Association(APA)
- Asia-Pacific Researchers in Organization Studies(APROS)
- Atlantic Schools of Business(ASB)
- Canadian Industrial Relations Association(CIRA)
- Canadian Psychological Association(CPA)
- Critical Management Studies(CMS6)
- Gender, Work and Organization(GWO)
- European Academy of Management(EAM)
- Labour Process Conference(LP)
- European Group for Organization Studies(EGOS)
- Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology(SIOP)
- Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism(SCOS)
Upon completion of the program, our doctoral students typically have an impressive collection of work already published or presented under their name.