¡®New blood needed¡¯ as Canada welcomes raft of female leaders

¡°New ideas and new blood¡± are needed to weather Canadian higher education¡¯s many challenges, according to the incoming head of McMaster University who is part of a record number of female leaders being appointed at top institutions.

Susan Tighe?started as?president and vice-chancellor of McMaster on 1 July ¨C the same day that Marie-Eve Sylvestre took charge at the University of Ottawa and?Melanie Woodin became the first female president in the University of Toronto¡¯s 200-year history.

Alongside Kim Brooks at Dalhousie University and Sophie D¡¯Amours at Universit¨¦ Laval, a record five leaders of Canada¡¯s prestigious U15 group of research-intensive universities are women.

Tighe, who is only the second female leader in the Ontario university¡¯s history, said she was delighted to be?among the?growing number of female leaders worldwide.

¡°I think diversity comes in many ways, and gender is one of those areas, but it comes also in terms of skill set, experience and background,¡± she said.?¡°We have more work to do¡­[but] it¡¯s a great start.¡±

Her?appointment?is also part of a?widespread?change in leadership?in higher education post-Covid.

¡°Covid really shook us all up for many reasons ¨C personally, professionally, and [for] a highly-functioning modern university you can¡¯t operate it the same way you did pre-Covid,¡± added Tighe.

¡°We¡¯re seeing a lot of change, and I think that¡¯s important change because the university sector is changing, and we need new ideas and new blood.¡±

Tighe, a professor of civil engineering who has been a professional engineer since 1995, said her career to date brings a ¡°unique perspective¡± to higher education leadership ¨C one that can help her university become more ¡°flexible and agile¡±.

¡°The academy moves really slowly. We¡¯re this massive ship that takes a decade to turn,¡± she said.?¡°Because of these complexities in the world, we need to be a place to help people and societies solve problems, and we can only do that if we¡¯re a little nimbler and we can pivot a little quicker.¡±

Since the Liberal Party¡¯s unlikely victory in the election earlier this year, many within higher education have?urged prime minister Mark Carney to rethink the international student caps?put in place by his predecessor.

The caps have caused widespread damage across parts of the sector, particularly at institutions that had rapidly increased their overseas student numbers, but Tighe said McMaster had been mostly untouched by the fallout.

¡°We have tried to take the approach of acting responsibly, and really only modestly increasing the number of international students over a number of years, so the caps are impacting us only slightly.¡±

Overall, Tighe, who previously served as provost at McMaster, said she felt quite positive?about the work of the new federal government so far.

One of Carney¡¯s main priorities has been containing the damage of a trade war with the US. Meanwhile, Canadian institutions have been making the most of the chaos south of the border to recruit top academics.

McMaster is also relatively?unusual among Canadian universities?in that it is operating a surplus. This means it has been able to capitalise when some ¡°high-profile researchers¡± from the US have approached the institution.

However, just like her attitude towards recruiting international students, Tighe said she would be taking a cautious approach to help McMaster recruit ¡°the next set of stars¡±.

¡°I would say we¡¯re being strategic about it?¨C it¡¯s not a one-size-fits-all. It¡¯s not like you open the dam here and all the water comes rushing out.¡±

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com