CSSHE sponsors an annual award for the outstanding Master’s thesis or project in Canadian universities in the area of higher education. Nominated works should focus on topics in higher education relevant to Canada, including the societal context, access, organization and governance, teaching and learning, institutional studies, or education and employment.
| Criteria | The overall criterion for selection is scholarly excellence, readability, and contribution to increased understanding of the dynamics of higher education. The master’s thesis or project should demonstrate scholarly excellence, and a contribution to the field of higher education. |
| Eligibility | Candidates must have completed the requirements for a Master’s degree at a Canadian university during the calendar year prior to the award. The candidate must have passed the final examination and the supervisory committee must have accepted the thesis or project by the time nomination is submitted. |
| Nature of the Award | The recipient will be invited to present a paper on the thesis or project during the annual CSSHE conference and will be presented with a Certificate of Merit as well as a complimentary CSSHE membership for one year. |
| Submissions | Faculty members who are graduate advisors are invited to submit a maximum of two nominations, using the Nomination Form . Individuals who intend to submit a nomination are asked to consult and coordinate with their colleagues in their Faculty so that no one Faculty forwards more than five nominations to CSSHE.
Each submission must include the following:
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| Deadline | E-mail the submissions no later than December 31 each year to:
Cam Smith, CSSHE Secretariat |
Past Recipients | Anciens laureats et anciennes laureates
| 2024 | Yilun Jiang, University of Toronto/OISE |
International Graduate Students’ Experience with University Career Services: A Case Study at a Southern Ontarian University |
| 2023 | Virginia Dreier, The University of British Columbia |
“Where are you from?” International students’ sense of belonging through a participatory photovoice lens |
| 2022 | Christina Arayata, University of Toronto |
Identity navigation and understanding in demographic surveys |
| 2021 (tied) | Audrey Bujold, Universite du Quebec en Outaouais |
Le vecu experientiel des Etudiantes au baccalaureat en sciences infirmieres lors de leur stage en milieu psychiatrique: Comprendre pour mieux former |
| 2021 (tied) | Emily Gregory, University of Alberta |
Employability skill development in higher education: Students’ and faculty members’ perspectives |
| 2020 | Andrew Hartman, University of Saskatchewan |
The Role of Shame in Student Persistence and Help-Seeking |
| 2019 | Catherine Macala, The University of British Columbia |
Bridging the rural divide: An exploratory study of a medical school’s rural applicants |
| 2018 (tied) | Julie Mooney, McGill University |
Emergent professional learning communities in Canadian postsecondary education: Experiences of faculty, educational developers, support staff, and administrators |
| 2018 (tied) | Colleen Webb, University of Manitoba |
After the adult learning centre: Rural women: Decisions and transitions to post-secondary education |
| 2017 | Brandon Sabourin, University of Windsor |
Identifying student approaches to learning: Undergraduate student perceptions of teaching and learning at the University of Windsor |
| 2016 | Not awarded | |
| 2015 | Erica Jung University of Manitoba |
International graduate students’ perceptions of academic learning |
| 2014 | Kathryn Hansen Western University |
College instructors’ preparedness to teach students with learning disablities |
| 2013 | Janine Jongbloed University of British Columbia |
Happiness, well-being, and post-secondary attainment: measuring the subjective well-being of British Columbia’s high school graduate class of 1988 |
| 2012 (tied) | Rhonda Friesen University of Manitoba |
Canadian internationalization: selective perceptions of five faculty members |
| 2012 (tied) | Isabelle Skakni Universite Laval |
Les representations de la carriere professorale des doctorantes et doctorants quebecois |
| 2011 | Not awarded | |
| 2010 (tied) | Monique Bourgeois, Memorial University of Newfoundland |
The Significance of Post-Secondary Education in Newfoundland: A Comparison Between the Provincial Government’s White Paper on Public Post-Secondary Education (2005) And Rural Women Enrolled In Liberal Arts Undergraduate Degrees |
| 2010 (tied) | Albert Johnson, Memorial University of Newfoundland |
Students’ perceptions of effective teaching in higher education |
| 2009 | Not awarded | |
| 2008 | Not awarded | |
| 2007 | Blanca Minerva Torres-Olave, University of British Columbia |
“If I didn’t have professional dreams maybe I wouldn’t think of leaving”: Student Identity and Imagined Communities in a Mexican Lengua Inglesa Major |
| 2006 | David Vincent Ruffolo, University of Toronto |
Queering the “I” in academic discourse: Re/visioning agency for an equitable future |
| 2005 | Michelle H-Duke, University of Lethbridge |
The chemistry of education: B.C. young men and women |
| 2004 | Maria Adamuti-Trache, University of British Columbia |
Post-secondary paths in science for B.C. young women and men |