Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:31:11.016Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Indigenous students’ experience and engagement with support at university: a mixed-method study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2021

Madeleine Benton Open the ORCID record for Madeleine Benton [Opens in a new window] ,
Shane Hearn  and
Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos
Madeleine Benton*
Affiliation:
Wirltu Yarlu, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia5005, Australia
Shane Hearn
Affiliation:
Wirltu Yarlu, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia5005, Australia
Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos
Affiliation:
Centre for Change and Complexity in Learning, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
*
Author for correspondence: Madeleine Benton, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

There remains significant under representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australian higher education systems. A number of strategies have been implemented by governments and universities to best support Indigenous students within higher education that have produced varying levels of success in increasing participation, retention and completions. One key strategy is the inclusion of Aboriginal Education Units within universities. The current study aimed to examine students experience and engagement with a range of support services across university, in particular with an Aboriginal Education Unit. Utilising a mixed-method approach, data were collected from 103 students who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander at The University of Adelaide. Overall, students were most satisfied with support provided by family (70%) and the Aboriginal Education Unit (61%), followed by support provided by university faculties (49%), and the wider university (43%). The main reasons students were accessing the Unit was for academic and tutoring purposes, also rating tutoring as the most beneficial service provided by the Unit. This study highlights the importance of examining and evaluating enablers such as support mechanisms from the student perspective and has demonstrated the significant role Aboriginal Education Units play in the student experience, laying a crucial foundation for targeted support initiatives.

Keywords

Aboriginalhigher educationIndigenous studentsstudent engagement student supportsuccess
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , December 2021 , pp. 256 - 264
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, C, Bunda, T and Walter, M (2008) Indigenous higher education: the role of universities in releasing the potential. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 37, 1–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asmar, C, Page, S and Radloff, A (2011) Dispelling Myths: Indigenous Students’ Engagement with University. Australia: AUSSE Research Briefings. v.10 April 2011.Google Scholar
Barney, K (2016) Listening to and learning from the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to facilitate success. Student Success 7, 111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behrendt, L, Larkin, S, Griew, R and Kelly, P (2012) Review of Higher Education Access and Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: Final Report. Canberra, Australia: Australian Government. Retrieved June 5, 2013.Google Scholar
Bennett, A, Naylor, R, Mellor, K, Brett, M, Gore, J, Harvey, A, James, R, Munn, B, Smith, M and Whitty, G (2015) The critical interventions framework part 2: Equity initiatives in Australian higher education: A review of evidence of impact. Retrieved from http://www.newcastle.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/261124/REPORT-FINAL.pdf.Google Scholar
Bradley, D, Noonan, P, Nugent, H and Scales, B (2008) Review of Australian Higher Education: Final Report. Canberra: Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.Google Scholar
Day, D and Nolde, R (2009) Arresting the decline in Australian Indigenous representation at university; student experience as a guide. Equal Opportunities International 28, 135–161. doi:CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drew, N, Wilks, J, Wilson, K and Kennedy, G (2016) Standing up to be counted: data quality challenges in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education statistics. Australian Aboriginal Studies 2, 104–120.Google Scholar
Engstrom, C and Tinto, V (2008) Access without support is not opportunity. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning 40, 46–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gore, J, Patfield, S, Fray, L, Holmes, K, Gruppetta, M, Lloyd, A and … Heath, T (2017) The participation of Australian Indigenous students in higher education: a scoping review of empirical research, 2000–2016. The Australian Educational Researcher 44, 323–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartigan, JA and Kleiner, B (1984) A mosaic of television ratings. The American Statistician 38, 32–35.Google Scholar
Hearn, S, Benton, M, Funnell, S and Marmolejo-Ramos, F (2019) Investigation of the factors contributing to Indigenous students’ retention and attrition rates at the University of Adelaide. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 1–9. doi: 10.1017/jie.2019.5.Google Scholar
James, R, Bexley, E, Anderson, A, Devlin, M, Garnett, R, Marginson, S and Maxwell, L (2008) Participation and Equity: A Review of the Participation in Higher Education of People From low Socioeconomic Backgrounds and Indigenous People. Report prepared for Universities Australia: Centre for the Study of Higher Education University of Melbourne, Australia.Google Scholar
Lydster, C and Murray, J (2019) ‘Not just a tutor’: successful supplementary tuition for Australian Indigenous students in higher education. Journal of Academic Language and Learning 13, 140–160.Google Scholar
Mayring, P (2000) Qualitative content analysis. Forum: Qualitative Social Research 1, 1–10. doi: 10.17169/fqs-1.2.1089%Google Scholar
Morgan, D (2001) Indigenous education: factors affecting students' decisions to continue or withdraw from tertiary studies at flinders university. International Education Journal 2, 233–239.Google Scholar
Nakata, M, Nakata, V, Day, A and Martin, G (2018) Indigenous undergraduates’ use of supplementary tutors: developing academic capabilities for success in higher education studies. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. 48, 119–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, R, Grote, E, Rochecouste, J and Dann, T (2015) Indigenous student perspectives on support and impediments at University. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 45, 23–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parente, A, Craven, R and Munns, G (2003) What do Indigenous students say about their aspirations? Journal of Aboriginal Studies Association 12, 11–22.Google Scholar
Pechenkina, E and Anderson, I (2011) Background paper on Indigenous Australian higher education: Trends, initiatives and policy implications. Retrived from https://sydney.edu.au/documents/about/higher_education/2011/20110930%20IndigenousHigherEducationReview-ReseachPaper.pdf.Google Scholar
Pechenkina, E, Kowal, E and Paradies, Y (2012) Indigenous Australian students’ participation rates in higher education: exploring the role of universities. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 40, 59–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sharrock, P and Lockyer, H (2008) One to one and face to face: a community based higher education support strategy retaining Indigenous Australian university students. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 37, 28–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision (SCRGSP) (2011) Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators 2011. Canberra, Australia: SCRGSP.Google Scholar
Taylor, EV, Lalovic, A and Thompson, SC (2019) Beyond enrolments: a systematic review exploring the factors affecting the retention of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health students in the tertiary education system. International Journal for Equity in Health 18, 136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trudgett, M (2009) Build it and they will come: building the capacity of Indigenous units in universities to provide better support for Indigenous Australian postgraduate students. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 38, 9–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vogel, D, Falter-Wagner, CM, Schoofs, T, Kramer, K, Kupke, C and Vogeley, K (2019) Interrupted time experience in autism spectrum disorder: empirical evidence from content analysis. Journal of Autism Developmental Disorders 49, 22–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walter, M (2011) Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander presence: opening knowledge pathways. In Commissioned for the Behrendt review of Indigenous higher education by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, Canberra, May 2011.Google Scholar
Whatman, S, Mclaughlin, J, Willsteed, S, Tyhuis, A and Beetson, S (2008) Quality and efficacy of the Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS) for University Students. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education 37, 118–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilks, J and Wilson, K (2015) Indigenous Australia: a profile of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education student population. Australian Universities Review 57, 17–30.Google Scholar
Wilks, J, Fleeton, ER and Wilson, K (2017) Indigenous tutorial assistance scheme: tertiary tuition and beyond: transitioning with strengths and promoting opportunities. Australian Universities Review 59, 14–23.Google Scholar