Pigeonholed, peripheral or pioneering? Findings from a national study of Indigenous Australian academics in the disciplines^*

* In this paper, the term ‘Indigenous’ mostly refers to Australians of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, but also includes Indigenous peoples elsewhere in the world.

ABSTRACT

Global moves to integrate Indigenous perspectives and histories into university curricula are growing. In Australia, shifts towards Indigenisation in higher education teaching and research have been slow, but now – partly due to new national and institutional policies – are re-forming the disciplinary landscapes where our students learn and grow. Vital to achieving these new agendas are the Indigenous Australian scholars whose work experiences are reported in this paper. Findings from a nation-wide survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics (mainly in professional disciplines like law, education and health) support a more optimistic scenario than that portrayed in some existing literature. No longer peripheral to institutional missions, this newly confident cohort of Indigenous academics is forging unprecedented partnerships with non-Indigenous colleagues and transforming the very essence of a university degree. The implications for Australia, and for other societies with Indigenous communities, are profound.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous
• aboriginal
• academics
• disciplines
• curriculum

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge all the Indigenous Australian academics who participated in this study. We are also grateful for the helpful suggestions of our anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

* In this paper, the term ‘Indigenous’ mostly refers to Australians of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, but also includes Indigenous peoples elsewhere in the world.

Additional information

Funding

We also acknowledge funding support from the Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) [grant number G2008/7356].