Dr. Michèle Bowring has a PhD in Leadership Studies from the University of Leicester, a BA in Psychology from Queen's University at Kingston, Canada and an MBA from York University,/Université Laval (joint degree). She came to the Department of Management from the University of Leicester, where she was a member of academic staff for four years. Before that, she was a faculty member at the University of Manitoba where she taught Leadership, Strategy, Power and Politics and Research Methods to undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Currently she is Graduate Coordinator for the MSc Management and the PhD in Management (Organizational Leadership stream), as well as a U of G Senator and member of the Senate Honours and Awards Committee. Previously, in additon to serving on a number of committees and the Research Ethics Board, she was responsible for the undergraduate Certificate in Leadership from 2009 to 2016 and served as Director of the MA (Leadership) program from 2011 to 2013. At the University of Leicester she was First Year Tutor for four years and International Student Coordinator for two years. At the University of Manitoba she chaired the School of Business PhD committee for three years and was a member of the Joint Faculty Research Ethics Board for three years. She has served as principal advisor for two PhD students, committee member on a number of doctoral and qualifying committees and primary advisor for a number of Major Research Projects and theses as well as as advisor/external committee member for a number of MSc students in Management, Nursing and Leadership.
Michèle has been teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students for over two decades. She has also taught in executive programs and workshops with middle and upper-level managers. Her approach to teaching involves engaging students and encouraging them to become active participants in their own learning.
Prior to pursuing an academic career Michèle worked in various managerial positions in corporate and retail banking. She was also a licensed optician for a number of years.
Michele was honoured with a nomination for the UGFA Distinguished Professor Teaching Award in 2016.
She was voted a Superstar member of Academic Staff for her work as a personal tutor at the University of Leicester
Professor Bowring was honoured with the Asper School of Business Associates Award for teaching excellence in 2001 and was the invited keynote speaker at the Asper MBA part-time students annual graduation dinner in 2005.
She has also been nominated for several other teaching awards over the years.
Michele's research program focuses on leadership and identity, more specifically visible and non-visible minority identities. She has published and presented papers on the intersection of leadership and gender, sexuality and diversity in the workplace. She is currently working on a project examining discrimination and gender as well as one examining the effects of leader disclosure of non-visible elements of identity. She was also Principal Investigator on an OMAFRA grant entitled "Enhancing Collaboration by Building Leadership Capability in the Food Value Chain".
Bowring, M.A. (2017). Can I TrustYou? Exploring the effect of sexual orientation disclosure on the leader-follower relationship.Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 34:2, 170-181.
Chang, J. and Bowring, M.A. (2015). The perceived impact of sexual orientation on the ability of queer leaders to realte to followers. Leadership., doi: 10.1177/1742715015586215.
Bowring, M. A. & Brewis, J. (2014). "Negotiating service and sexuality in hypergendered organisations" in Sexual Orientation at Work: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives (pp. 28-41). Sage.
Brewis, J., Bowring, Michèle A., 2010. "Feminism" in Key Concepts in Critical Management Studies (eds. M. Tadajewski, P. Maclaran, E. Parsons and M. Parker). Sage Publications.
Bowring, Michèle A. and J. Brewis, (2009) “Truth and Consequences: Managing lesbian and gay identity in the Canadian workplace”, Equal Opportunities International, 28:5, 361-377
Bowring, Michele A., "Resistance is NOT Futile: Liberating Captain Janeway from the masculine-feminine dualism of leadership", Gender, Work, and Organizations, 2004. 11: 4, 381-405.
Bowring, Michele A., "De/constructing theory: a look at the institutional theory that positivism built", Journal of Management Inquiry, 2000. 9:3, 258-270.
Bowring, Michele A., "Eye of the camera: an analysis of organizational life as portrayed on television", in Modern Organizations and Emerging Conundrums, R. Goodman, ed. Lexington, 1999
Bowring, M.A. and Mir, F. Building leadership capability to foster SME collaboration: Lessons from the Ontario food value chain. presented at the Administrative Science Association of Canada confernce, St. Catharanies, Canada, May 2019.
Bowring, M.A. Disclosing Concealable Stigmatized Identities In The Workplace: What About Trust? Presented at the Canadian Industrial Relations Association Conference, Toronto, Canada, May/June 2017.
Bowring, M.A. and Zdaniuk, A. Fifteen Years After: New insights into personal/group discrimination discrepancy and gender. Presented at the Biennial International Conference of the International Society for Justice Research, Canterbury, UK. July 2016
Bowring, M. Can I trust you? Exploring the ways in which sexual orientation disclosure affects the relationship between LGB leaders and their followers. Administrative Science Association of Canada, Halifax, Canada-Nova Scotia, 2015
Bowring, M.A. & Brewis, J. Steering a difficult course: Navigating service and sexuality in the Canadian, UK and US militaries. Administrative Science Association of Canada, Calgary, Canada-Alberta. 2013
Bowring, M.A. Who are you? Gender and leadership identity in the nursing profession. Critical Management Studies Conference, Manchester, United Kingdom. 2012
Bowring, M. A. & McDermott, K. Let's stop looking for answers in all the wrong places: A pragmatic approach to defining leadership. Administrative Science Association of Canada, St. John's, Canada-Newfoundland. 2012
Bowring, M.A. Recovering Femininity? A Dear Jane letter from Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson to DCI Jane Tennison. Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, Istanbul, Turkey, 2011
Bowring, Michèle A. “Bridge Over Troubled Water: Leadership studies, gender studies and life in the military” presented at the Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, Copenhagen, 2009
Bowring, Michèle A. and J. Brewis, “Truth and Consequences: Managing lesbian and gay identity in the Canadian workplace”, presented at the 16th Organizational Storytelling seminar, Manchester Business School, 15 May, 2009
Bowring, Michèle A., “Leading at the Border: Gender, sex and sexuality in the military” presented at Women, Armies and Wars / Les femmes, les armées et les guèrres international conference, College Militaire Royal de St Jean, QC, 2007.
Bowring, Michèle A., “The Greater Good: cultural spaces, Xena, online communities and the organization of consumption”, presented at the Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, Nijmegen, 2006.
Bowring, Michèle A., “What’s in a Name: massacre, genocide, holocaust or Holocaust?” accepted for presentation at the annual conference of the American Sociological Association in Montreal, August 2006.
Bowring, Michèle A., "Sense and Sensibility at Work" in Proceedings, Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, Halifax, N.S., 2004
Bowring, Michèle A., "Taking Leadership in a Queer Direction" in Proceedings, Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada conference, Halifax, N.S., 2003,24:11, 1-14
Bowring, Michèle A.,” Working In and Out of the Closet” accepted for presentation at the Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism, 2003 International Conference in Cambridge, England, UK
Dass, P., Bowring, M.A., Karim, R., “Teaching as Practice of the Knowledge Creation Process: Evolution of the capstone course” Annual conference of the Academy of Management, Seattle, WA, 2003
Dass, P., Bowring, M.A., Karim, R., “Evolution of the Business Capstone Course: A reflective approach”, presented at the Decision Sciences Institute Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, 2002
Bowring, Michèle A., Brabston, M., “Integration and Boundary Fluctuation: Teaching Business Policy/Strategy and MIS Strategy” presented at the International Conference on Informatics Education & Research, Barcelona, Spain, 2002