Why isn’t my professor Māori? A snapshot of the academic workfWhy isn’t my professor Māori? A snapshot of the academic workforce in New Zealand universitiesorce in New Zealand universities

Abstract

This article provides insights into the ethnicity of academics employed by Aotearoa New Zealand's eight universities, with a particular focus on Mori academics. We show that, despite values espoused by universities in terms of diversity and within their equity policies regarding Mori staff, there has been no progress in increasing the Mori academic workforce. Mori academics were severely under-represented at universities between 2012 and 2017, comprising approximately 5% of the total academic workforce. This raises questions about the will of universities to build a sustainable Mori academic workforce, their level of commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the notion of partnership, and the efficacy of academic equity and diversity policies. We highlight