Shamiga (Shamy) Arumuhathas

Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership Studies

M.Ed., BA. Hons, B.Ed., York University (YU)

Shamiga (Shamy) Arumuhathas

Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership Studies

M.Ed., BA. Hons, B.Ed., York University (YU)

Shamiga (Shamy) Arumuhathas is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate at Western University's Faculty of Education specializing in Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership Studies (CPELS) arc. Shamy has a B.Ed. and a certified member of the Ontario Teachers College (OCT) and presently an intermediate, senior, and adult educator at an Ontario Public School Board within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Shamy also has international teaching experience in the global east, specifically in East Asia. Her M.Ed. research concentrated on the neo-colonial and neo-racism praxis to investigate racialized international post-secondary students experiences and academic outcomes within South Korean universities. In Winter Term 2024, she is anticipated to perform limited duties of an instructor within the teacher education program at Western University’s Faculty of Education. Her current doctoral research examines the experiences of racialized international students within Ontario's higher education institutions under the coalescing equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, (EDID) and anti-racism zeitgeist to delineate the dissonance within institutional policies and practices. Shamy is committed to promoting equitable inclusion for marginalized communities, especially equity-seeking stakeholders in post-secondary education. 

Shamy's research interests also extend to the critical decolonization of higher education and teacher education through the establishment of sustainable practices that promote equitable inclusion for traditionally marginalized communities. As a dedicated research-practitioner and educator, Shamy is the recipient of the Inclusive Education Research Award in 2022 Competition presented by the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education. This recognition underscores her commitment to providing effective anti-racist, culturally relevant, and intercultural interventions in K-12 STEM/ STEAM, particularly for students of colour, both at the secondary and post-secondary levels, during academic, and personal crises. 

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Paul Tarc, PhD

Supervisor

Research

Doctoral Research

Shamy’s doctoral study titled "Is there adversity in diversity? Racialized international students’ experiences at Ontario universities” investigates the experiences of racialized international students (IS) in Ontario higher education institutions (HEIs) regarding inclusion and exclusion. Despite an increase in international students' mobility to Canada, specifically to Ontario, racialized IS still face covert and overt forms of exclusion both on and off campus. Even though policies and statements promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are made during campus incidents of racism, discrimination, and xenophobia, there is a possibility that they are more symbolic than substantive. This is due to the fact that racialized IS continue to experience discrimination and microaggression from domestic stakeholders. The study aims to determine whether EDI initiatives are merely discursive artifacts circulated in institutional rhetoric or if they are agents of racial justice reform that promote inclusion.

This research aims to provide a nuanced understanding of racialized IS experiences by teasing out racial dynamics and hierarchies. The study seeks to understand how this is an extension of old politics and imperial echoes while stressing the implications for future higher education policy reform and practice. Using a decolonial and critical race theoretical praxis, the interrogation of settler-colonial universities' use of EDI has the potential to expose possible systemic oppression. Overall, this study aims to contribute to the discourse on racial justice reform in higher education.

Research Interests & Area of Concentrations 

  • Anti-racism and Culturally Relevant K-12 STEM Education 
  • Instructional Design: Curriculum and Pedagogists 
  • International Curriculum & Global Perspectives  
  • Epistemic curricular violence 
  • Internationalization of Higher Education 
  • Decolonization, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Safe School Practices 
  • Higher Education Policies 
  • Student Experience & Academic Outcomes 
  • Teacher Education 
  • Intermediate/Senior (Secondary) Education 
  • Adult Education 

Course Work Completed

PhD Courses (Western University):  

GRADEDUC9715 – PhD Seminar 

GRADEDUC 9200A– Social Context of Education 

GRADEDUC9711B – Qualitative research in education 

GRADEDUC9203B – Globalization in Education 

GRADEDUC9204L – Indigeneity & (De)colonization   

MED Courses (York University):  

GSEDUC5412A- Changing Currents in Post-Secondary Education 

GSEDUC5417A- Internationalization of Higher Education 

GSEDUC5860A-Issues in Digital Technology in Education 

GSEDUC5221M-Life History: Research Methods and Application 

GSEDUC5455M-Student Experience & Educational Outcomes in Colleges & Universities  

GSEDUC5025A-Cosmopolitanism: Re-imagining Multiculturalism  

GSEDUC5464-Issues in Globalization and Education   

Awards, Achievements & Certificates  

2022 - Inclusive Education Research Award Competition, Western University  

2021-Centre for Teaching and Learning: The Teaching Assistant Training Program Certificate, Western University  

2021-Faculty Research Development Fund (FRDF), Western University  

2019- Graduate Diploma in Post-Secondary Education: Community, Culture, and Policy Faculty of Education, York University  

2017-12 Dean’s Honour Roll, York University  

2016-Certificate of Achievement and Recognition of International Teacher Education, National Taipei University (NTU)  

2015-Continuing Student Scholarship, York University  

2014-17 Golden Key International Honours Society Outstanding Scholastic Achievement- Top 10 Percentile  

2015-Certificate of EQAO Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics Large-Scale Assessment with Learning in Mind  

2012-Entrance/Renewal Scholarship, York University

Conferences Attended

Peter, N., & Arumuhathas, S. (May 2023). Implementing Anti-Racism Praxis in STEM education: A Scoping Review. Paper presented at Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), Toronto.  

Arumuhathas, S., Zhao, F., & Leung, V. (April 2022). Investigating  the impacts of COVID-19 on racialized international students’ experience in Ontario higher education. Paper presented at Comparative and International Education Society, Minneapolis.  

Arumuhathas, S., & Zhao, F. (June 2021). Investigating the impacts of COVID-19 on  racialized international students’ experience in Ontario higher education. Paper presented at the International Teaching Online Symposium, Windsor.  

Arumuhathas, S. (May 2021). The lived realities of racialized post-secondary students: A South Korean case study. Paper presented at Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE), Edmonton.  

Arumuhathas, S. (March 2021). The lived realities of racialized post-secondary students: A South Korean case study. Paper presented at Robert Macmillan Symposium, London.  

Arumuhathas, S. (April 2018). Globalization of quality of education and improving third-world countries’ benchmark assessment. Paper presented at 16th Annual Graduate Conference in Education, Toronto.  

Publications

Arumuhathas, S. (Forthcoming). Navigating Perspectives: Unpacking the Discourse Surrounding International Student Experiences in Canadian Higher Education. The Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education/ Revue Canadienne des jeunes chercheures et chercheurs en éducation (CJNSE/RCJCÉ).

Arumuhathas, S. (2022). The Dislocated ‘Outsiders’ within International Canadian Higher Education. The Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education/ Revue Canadienne des jeunes chercheures et chercheurs en éducation (CJNSE/RCJCÉ). 13(1), 43-49. https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cjnse/article/view/74405  

Arumuhathas, S. (2022). [Review of the book Speaking of Indigenous  Politics: Conversations with Activists, Scholars, and Tribal Leaders, by Kēhaulani Kauanui (Eds.)] AlterNative. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801221084298  

El Masri, A., Khan, N., & Arumuhathas, S. (2022). (rep.). Student Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) Evaluations 2021-22 Report (pp. 1–20). Sheridan College. Toronto, Ontario.  

El Masri, A., Khan, N., & Arumuhathas, S. (2022). (rep.). Perceived Barriers to Education Abroad Experience: A Student Perspective 2022 Report (pp. 1–47). Sheridan College. Toronto, Ontario.  

Arumuhathas, S. (2021). [Review of the book Centering African proverbs,  Indigenous folktales, and cultural stories in Curriculum, by Dei, G.J.S., & McDermott, M. (Eds.)] Comparative and International Education/Éducation comparée et internationale. 49(2),90-91.  https://doi.org/10.5206/cieeci.v49i2.13524 

Peter, N., Arumuhathas, S., & Namukasa, I. K. (Forthcoming). Implementing Anti-Racism  Praxis in STEM/STEAM education: A Scoping Review.  

Arumuhathas, S. (Forthcoming). [Review of the book Transforming Girls: The Work of  Nineteenth-Century Adolescence, by Julie Pfeiffer] Journal of Childhood Studies.  

Arumuhathas, S. (Forthcoming). [Review of the book Social Justice in Physical Education:  Critical Reflections and Pedagogies for Change, by Robinson, & D. B., Randall, L. (Eds.)] The Canadian Journal for New Scholars in Education/ Revue Canadienne des jeunes chercheures et chercheurs en éducation (CJNSE/RCJCÉ).  

Arumuhathas, S. (Forthcoming). We don’t leave our Indigeneity behind: Erasure of Global Indigenous Students in Canadian Higher Education.   

Rezai-Rashti, G., Arumuhathas, S., Zhao, F., & Leung, V. (Forthcoming). Investigating  the impacts of COVID-19 on racialized international students’ experience in Ontario higher education.  

Additional Information

Memberships 

  • Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) 
  • Canadian Society for the Study of Education (CSSE)  
  • Critical Internationalization Studies Network (CISN)  
  • Ontario College of Teachers (OCT)  
  • Golden Key International Honours Society   

Teaching & Service  

Guest speaker, Resilience & Resistance in the face of Microaggression, Sheldon & Tracy Levy Student Learning Centre, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), February 2023. 

External Examiner, EDUC 5470 Framing International Education in Globalizing World, Faculty of Education at Western University, November 2021.  

External Examiner, EDUC 5472 Teaching Abroad: Opportunities & Challenges, Faculty of Education at Western University, November 2020.  

Guest speaker, GS/EDUC 5025 Cosmopolitanisms: Re-imagining Multiculturalism and the Question of Belonging Class, Faculty of Graduate Education at York University, October 2018. 

Committee Membership  

2021-2022: Executive Member, The Canadian Committee of Graduate Students in Education (CCGSE/CCÉÉCSÉ)  

2021-2022: Board Member, Equity Committee, Education Graduate Student Association (EGSA)  

2017-2018: Conference Committee Member, York Graduate Students in Education   

2016- 2017: Vice-President of Finance, York University Faculty of Education Students’ Association (FESA)  

2014- 2015: Director of Resource, York University Faculty of Education Students’ Association (FESA)