‘Taking your mob with you’: giving voice to the experiences of Indigenous Australian postgraduate students

Abstract

Indigenous Australian postgraduate students experience different barriers from those encountered by non-Indigenous students. In the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study, Indigenous students are more likely to come from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, have lower personal incomes and lack family and other networks supportive of engagement with tertiary, and especially postgraduate, study. While there is a growing literature on Indigenous participation in higher education, with the exception of a few notable examples, there is little known about the effectiveness of support mechanisms and issues for Indigenous students undertaking postgraduate study. Drawing on interviews with current and past Indigenous postgraduate students at The University of Queensland, this paper problematises the postgraduate experience for Indigenous Australian students, identifying common themes in their accounts. It also discusses one of the outcomes of the project along with planned future developments that aim to provide better support for Indigenous Australian postgraduate students at The University of Queensland. By knowing and acting upon the kinds of mechanisms that can assist Indigenous postgraduate students, the disparity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous student participation in postgraduate study can begin to be addressed.