Yates is an academic and an expert on the Canadian automotive industry and labour issues.[1] She is president and founding director of the Automotive Research Policy Centre and a member of the YWCA national board of directors.[1]
She began working at McMaster University in 1987.[2] She was a part of the Labour Studies program, a faculty member in the Department of Political Science.[2][3] She went on to become director of labour studies.[2] From 2008 to 2015, Yates was dean of the faculty of social sciences at McMaster University.[2][3]
From 2015 to 2020, Yates served as the University of Guelph's vice-president and provost.[3][4] She was appointed as interim president of the University of Guelph in March 2020.[4] In August 2021, she became the university's first woman president.[4] She is the ninth president of the University of Guelph. She is also a professor in the Department of Political Science in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences.[3]