“I tell my brothers that it can be done”: Indigenous Males Navigating Elite Australian Higher Education

ABSTRACT

As Australian higher education grapples with its colonial history, there has been significant attention to recruiting Indigenous students. However, while we have seen increases in Indigenous participation, males lag significantly behind. Very few Indigenous males enter university and even fewer enter the upper echelons of the stratified higher education sector. In this paper, we investigate the experiences of four Indigenous young men who attended an elite Australian higher education institution. Central to our analysis is how their identities are realised in relation to their sense of Indigeneity and Western ways of knowing, being and doing. In capturing the complex identity work of young Indigenous men, we report on three themes present in the data: feelings of alienation and isolation; identification with their Indigenous identity; and how they view higher education in shaping their futures. How these young men navigate selective institutions speaks to debates regarding non-traditional and historically excluded student populations in elite spaces as well as the decolonisation of higher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous masculinity
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• higher education
• Indigenous
• widening participation

Note

1. The Stolen Generation refers to the Indigenous Australian children who were forcibly removed from their families by the Australian government and placed into institutions or with non-Indigenous families between 1910 and 1970. This policy aimed to assimilate Indigenous Australians into white Australian culture and resulted in the loss of cultural identity, family connections, and trauma for the affected individuals and their communities.

Acknowledgement

Acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ knowledge. Where possible, we have adhered to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander referencing practices. These practices are a method to acknowledge, celebrate and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ knowledge and materials and works towards enabling a form of reconciliation through inclusive educative practice and a strengthening relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider Australian community.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare there is no conflict of interest.

Notes

1. For Indigenous people, reconciliation refers to the process of addressing historical and ongoing injustices, inequalities, and harms inflicted upon Indigenous communities by colonial powers and settler societies.