blog article

No question of ‘privilege’: the ongoing legacy of Māori, racism and higher education In New Zealand

22nd August 2024

Authors: Tanya Allport, Whakauae Research

Tanya AllportIt was August 1992, and Māori lawyer and Indigenous rights advocate Moana Jackson was a guest lecturer for 300 first-year psychology students at the University of Waikato, New Zealand.

For one student glued to her chair, it was the first time she had ever heard anything Māori in a psychology lecture at Waikato University. Halfway through the lecture, the class had halved, by the end only 30 – mainly Māori students – remained.

"Is there a fire alarm?" thought Bridgette Masters-Awatere, who couldn't understand why so many in the lecture were leaving. "There was no way I was leaving, until Moana did. He was riveting."

That day a fire was definitely lit inside Bridgette (Ngāti kahu ki Whangaroa, Te Rarawa, Ngāi te Rangi, Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau), who three decades on, is now a Professor of Psychology at the University of Waikato. While Bridgette says racism isn't as obvious as hundreds of students walking out of a lecture on colonisation, the unconscious levels of institutional racism in higher education means we need to acknowledge the ongoing barriers for Māori, so that these are seen, and appropriate strategies are taken up.

Bridgette's Waikato University colleagues from the WERO project (Working to End Racial Oppression) have recently published a paper examining psychology professional training programmes across all Universities. The lack of Māori focused content in the training suggests that institutionalised racism is very much alive. The research highlights structural racism in psychology across decades, with the exclusion of Māori, or any other cultural worldview, beyond white, western, hetero-male worldviews.

Bridgette is one of a handful of Māori at professorial level in psychology and the research further shows that the barriers to academic advancement are tied to racism. Having teachers and psychologists like Bridgette is crucial to expanding the relevance of psychology.

"Increasing Māori representation in higher education is not just about ticking a diversity and inclusion box. It's about recognising the value of Indigenous knowledge, addressing historical and contemporary injustices while creating a more equitable and comprehensive understanding of the issues facing Māori so that future focused Māori led strategies can be implemented. One way we can do this is through the contents of the courses we teach," says Bridgette.

As the Associate Dean Māori in the Division of Arts, Law, Psychology and Social Sciences at the University of Waikato, Bridgette is doing all she can to help Māori flourish. She acknowledges the need to address barriers that have hindered Māori from participating in higher education, such as inter-generational trauma, denial of language, forced removal from traditional lands, disparities in health and education, low socio-economic incomes and home ownership.

"COVID made it really clear that we have students who were homeless or living in conditions that made studying very difficult. Those are the students we need to support," she says.

Living conditions contribute to the barriers facing Māori students. Homeownership amongst Māori have been lower than non-Māori for many decades, with census data from 2018 showing 47.2 percent for Māori, and 70.6 percent for European.

"Home ownership hugely affects our Māori students, because if their parents don't own their own home or have some other form of asset base, then families are vulnerable to fickle economic conditions leaving them potentially living week to week. This means that during a cost of living crisis a Māori student is less likely to have financial security. If they get sick then need medication and money for healthy food, or to go home for their wellbeing it is those additional costs that impact their lives. The stress of living costs on top of studying means some choose to leave university to join the labour force because they need money," says Bridgette.

For us at Whakauae Research Services, where we specialise on Māori Health and Development, one important area where more qualified Māori are needed is in health research.

Changing the experiences of young Māori in education is critical to resolving the abysmal health outcomes facing Māori. Although Māori are participating in higher education in greater numbers, the research continues to show Māori represent only 13% of university graduates. Having a greater representation of diversity in higher education also means more Māori perspectives in health research and health related services.

Ema Tu'akoi (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Tūwharetoa ki Taupō, Ngāti Maru ki Hauraki, Tongan) was the first in her family to go to University in 2019. With little guidance around her, she nearly gave up in year one.

"I was so isolated and didn't know how to navigate the University system. I ended up failing all of the papers in my first semester."

Ema reached out to one of her lecturers to express her concerns and was referred to the Tuākana support programme, which offers small-group face-to-face meetings and workshops connecting Māori and Pacific students with academic teaching staff and key people across the University.

"The most positive aspect was the whakawhanaungatanga, the relationship building. It helped the majority of us get through our studies," says Ema.

Four years on, Ema has graduated with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Psychology and Sustainability and is continuing her studies with a Masters of Indigenous studies at the University of Auckland.

"I chose to study Psychology because I craved a deeper understanding of certain issues that my people, my communities, and my family experience. When my people were rarely included within that curriculum, I then chose Indigenous Studies."

Ema wouldn't have continued her studies if she didn't have the right connections or support systems available to help her. Ema believes concerted efforts are needed from policymakers to help dismantle systemic barriers that go beyond fostering inclusivity. Indigenising educational organisations puts a priority on valuing Māori perspectives and ways of thinking and is a pathway towards genuine respect for Māori in tertiary institutions.

"Inclusive concepts, while well-intentioned, still place the burden on Māori to adapt to a system that views them as outsiders in need of inclusion. Putting up some signs in te reo Māori, the Māori language, and writing a ‘zero tolerance for discrimination' policy is just tokenism," says Ema.

Indigenising universities is an important issue, and one that goes beyond the current right-wing driven political debate over how offering safe schemes or spaces for Māori students is ‘discriminatory' to non-Māori. The solution isn't just about creating inclusive policies, but rather requires a concerted effort to address the deep-seated issues of racism and bias in New Zealand's tertiary institutions. Through this, we can facilitate a better and more equitable future for all.

Research shows when institutions begin to recognise their own systems of entrenched racism that create areas of risk for Māori, they can then start to make then changes needed at a policy level, some of which includes; more representation of Māori in teaching roles, improving cultural competencies training for educators, providing quality mentoring programmes for students and addressing economic barriers by offering targeted scholarships and aid packages to help alleviate the financial burden faced by many Māori families.

Having more Māori perspectives in health research ensures a more holistic understanding of issues, enriched by mātauranga Māori, traditional knowledge and practices that respects cultural values and protects Indigenous rights.

After all, better outcomes for Māori in higher education means better outcomes for Māori – and non-Māori – communities overall.

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