Melanie Lawrence is an Assistant Professor in Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership Studies in the Faculty of Education at Western University. She has an MA in Comparative and International Policy in Education, and a PhD in Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership Studies in Education (CPELS) from Western University Canada. Dr. Lawrence is also a recipient of academic grants and teaching awards. As a sociologist, her academic research and teachings in education cover a broad and intersecting range of life experiences as they relate to international and comparative critical equity policy studies in education. Dr. Lawrence specific area of research focuses on neoliberalism as an economic, political, and social theory in higher education. Dr. Lawrence has dedicated past research to the study of higher education and the ways in which corporate-market influences are reshaping higher education in the Ontario, Canada context with regard to equity, diversity, and inclusion.