Working at the Interface: Indigenous Students’ Experience of Undertaking Doctoral Studies in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Māori (indigenous) ¹ doctoral students in Aotearoa New Zealand face challenges not usually experienced by other doctoral candidates. We draw on data from in-depth interviews with 38 Māori doctoral candidates and argue that because of the tensions between academic disciplinary knowledge frameworks and knowledge drawn from te ao Māori (the Māori world) indigenous students have additional cultural, academic, and personal demands placed on them while aiming to produce research theses that meet conventional standards of academic scholarship. Complex methodological and ethical issues also emerge in undertaking doctoral research projects situated at the interface of academy and indigenous communities. Moreover, Māori students experience various degrees of tension between their sometimes strong cultural identities and their emerging and, therefore, less certain identities as researchers and scholars.

Elizabeth McKinley identifies as Māori (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu) and is Director of the Starpath Project and an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at The University of Auckland. Her research interests include investigating New Zealand's high rate of educational inequality with Māori students.

Barbara Grant identifies as Pākehā (New Zealand European ancestry) and is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Academic Development with responsibility for supervisor training at The University of Auckland. Her research interests include the practices of higher education with a particular focus on postgraduate supervision, academic writing, and academic (teacher and researcher) identity.

Sue Middleton identifies as Pākehā (New Zealand European ancestry) and is a professor of Education in the School of Education at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She has long-standing interests in the field of the historical sociology of education, including doctoral education, women's education, and researching space in relation to education.

Kathie Irwin is of Ngāti Porou and Ngāti Kahungunu descent and works for The Families Commission in Wellington. She has previously held the position of Director at Te Whare Wānanga o Te Awanuiārangi ki Poneke, one of New Zealand's three Māori universities, and continues her research interest in Māori education.

Les R. Tumoana Williams is of Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata, and Ngāti Maru descent and is the Programme Leader for the Capability Building division of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga/ The National Institute of Research Excellence for Māori Development and Advancement located at The University of Auckland.

The authors acknowledge the insightful comments made by Dr. Irena Madjar on an earlier version of this paper.

Notes

1. The Appendix provides a glossary of Māori terms to assist in the understanding of this article.

2. Aotearoa is the well known Māori name for New Zealand. The use of Aotearoa New Zealand acknowledges the bicultural, bilingual partnership between Māori and Pākehā in modern New Zealand.

3. In a recent paper, Māori community leader and academic, Mason Durie (2006) points out that the demographic trends in New Zealand are towards increasing numbers of Māori learners and argues that a more active approach to leadership building is required within the education system “so that there is a succession of leaders who are well trained to manage and lead the next phase of Māori educational reform” (p. 18). The doctoral education process has become a key route through which we develop leaders both within education and for the wider society. It is seen as being essential to Māori and to the nation as a whole to grow a critical mass of Māori intellectuals who are able to maintain their sense of identity such that they are conscious of their obligations and responsibilities to Māori communities while recognising their place as New Zealand and global citizens.

4. The entire project had 38 student and 20 supervisor interviews. This paper only reports on the student interviews.

5. This phrase refers to the token representation of a person of colour, usually a person of Māori or Pacific Island ancestry in New Zealand, without the power to influence decisions or directions of the project.