| Title: |
Helping the 'Helping Hands': Supporting Maori Postgraduates to Advance Community Aspirations for Environmental Research |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Alyssa Thomas (ORCID 0009-0002-2619-1602); Kimberley Maxwell (ORCID 0000-0002-6360-0252); Aaria Dobson-Waitere; Amber Aranui (ORCID 0000-0001-6070-4278); Ruby Phipps-Black; Tessa Thomson (ORCID 0009-0000-6246-9371); Ocean Ripeka Mercier (ORCID 0000-0003-1296-9954) |
| Source: |
Higher Education Research and Development. 2025 44(2):532-547. |
| Availability: |
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
16 |
| Publication Date: |
2025 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
| Education Level: |
Higher Education; Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: |
Ethnic Groups; Pacific Islanders; Graduate Students; Environmental Research; Aspiration; Community Development; Indigenous Populations; Barriers; Student Experience; Community Relations; Females; Researchers; Tribes; Family Influence; Social Support Groups; Foreign Countries; Experimenter Characteristics |
| Geographic Terms: |
New Zealand (Wellington); New Zealand |
| DOI: |
10.1080/07294360.2024.2393118 |
| ISSN: |
0729-4360; 1469-8366 |
| Abstract: |
Postgraduate research is complex enough, but Indigenous students face unique challenges and additional expectations. For instance, they are often strongly motivated for their tertiary education to support their community's aspirations but distanced from those communities. We are wahine (women) Maori researchers working to restore various local, natural environments in alignment with our iwi/hapu (tribe/subtribe) interests. We all gained funding to support this work through contestable postgraduate scholarships or research revenue, enjoying a high level of autonomy to design projects, under incentives designed to support Maori capability and potential. Using digital collective autoethnography, we reflected upon and articulated how our iwi/hapu and whanau (family) aspirations shaped our study and research, and how university and external research funding supported these pursuits. Through these narratives, we highlight the driving influence of "iwi/community aspirations," consider how universities and the research sector currently "align" with these, identify "barriers," and finally discuss what "deep tautoko (support)" looks like. We also reflect on how our postgraduate experiences and learnings have influenced and guided our subsequent work. Our collective experiences encompass potentially transformative approaches in community-driven, publicly funded, tertiary research; so, we finish by identifying specific mechanisms that could amplify these approaches. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Entry Date: |
2025 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1465613 |
| Database: |
ERIC |