Dr. Joël Dickinson
Abstract
Before my interview for a tenure-track position, two mentors offered well-intentioned advice: don’t come out, and if you mention your child, reassure them you aren’t planning to have more. Within minutes of the interview beginning, I was asked what my husband did for a living. When I replied that my wife was a teacher, there was an uncomfortable silence. Despite that moment—and perhaps because of what followed—I was offered the position.
That early experience marked the beginning of a career in which my identity could never be separated from my leadership. As a lesbian married to a Black woman with a disability, and as the parent of a Black son, my presence in academic spaces has often come with an unspoken “equity tax.” Yet those same lived experiences have profoundly shaped how I understand power, belonging, and responsibility—and ultimately how I lead.
In this keynote, I explore how navigating intersecting identities has informed my research on stereotypes and implicit bias, and how scholarship and lived experience continually inform one another. Drawing on both, I will illustrate how bias shows up in everyday decisions, governance structures, and workplace cultures—often unintentionally, but with real consequences.
I conclude by offering practical strategies for recognizing and responding to implicit bias when it occurs, repairing harm when mistakes are made, and intentionally building more inclusive and humane workplaces. This talk is both a personal narrative and a call to action: to move beyond awareness toward leadership that is grounded in empathy, accountability, and equity.
Bio
Dr. Joël Dickinson was appointed President and Vice-Chancellor of Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) on July 1, 2022. Before joining MSVU, Dr. Dickinson was Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Laurentian University and also held the positions of Acting Associate Vice-President of Teaching and Learning (2020-2021), and Chair of the university’s Department of Psychology.
Throughout her career, she has been focused on the impacts of decisions on students, as well as meaningful collaboration with faculty and staff colleagues. Across the many professional and volunteer roles she has held, she models inclusive leadership and a steadfast commitment to removing barriers to full participation in the university community by all. Dr. Dickinson has fostered meaningful truth and reconciliation efforts at MSVU, and furthered the university’s commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
Dr. Dickinson has taught at the University of New Brunswick and Mount Allison University. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and PhD in Psychology from the University of New Brunswick.
She is a full professor of Psychology with a research focus in cognitive processing during schema violations. Before making the transition to administration, she enjoyed a successful teaching and research career, winning the Laurentian University Teaching Excellence award in 2016. She was also the Principal Investigator of the Cognitive Health Research Laboratory, a CFI funded lab.
Dr. Dickinson is an active community volunteer and has worked with many non-profit organizations and advisory boards. She is currently a member of the boards of Research Nova Scotia and 211 Nova Scotia, a member of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, chair of Universities Canada’s Governance Committee, and co-chair of the Canada Research Chair’s Advisory Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy. Dr. Dickinson is active on Instagram – her handle is @PresD_MSVU.
