scholarly journals Evaluation of the pilot phase of a Student Support Strategy to improve retention and completion rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Shane Hearn ◽  
Sarah Funnell
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Assessment Tool ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Student Support ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Torres Strait

Abstract Increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education can play a critical role in transforming lives and is the trajectory to closing the gap and reducing disadvantage. Despite recent progress, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain significantly under-represented in higher education. Poor retention and high attrition rates of these students come at significant financial cost for the individual, community, university and government. Wirltu Yarlu, the Indigenous Education Unit at the University of Adelaide has reviewed the role student support services play in improving retention and completion rates, with an aim to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student retention and completion. The newly developed Student Success Strategy is an innovative approach to student support that aims to identify and respond to individual student needs in a more effective and efficient manner. The model encompasses a self-assessment tool designed to measure progress across several domains. Self-assessments are used to inform student specific support needs which in turn enable support staff to personalise future interventions for each student and respond accordingly in an attempt to reduce and prevent student attrition.

Closing Gaps in Indigenous Undergraduate Higher Education Outcomes: Repositioning the Role of Student Support Services to Improve Retention and Completion Rates

2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Nakata ◽  
Vicky Nakata ◽  
Andrew Day ◽  
Michael Peachey
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Student Support Services ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Student Support ◽  
Individual Student ◽  
Indigenous Australians ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Australian Universities

The current change agenda to improve the persistently lower rates of access, participation and outcomes of Indigenous Australians in higher education is a broad one that attempts to address the complex range of contributing factors. A proposition in this paper is that the broad and longer-term focus runs the risk of distracting from the detailed considerations needed to improve support provisions for enrolled students in the immediate term. To bring more attention to this area of indicated change, we revisit ‘the gaps’ that exist between the performance of Indigenous and all other domestic students and the role that student support services have to play in improving retention and completion rates of enrolled Indigenous students. We outline some principles that can guide strategies for change in Indigenous undergraduate student support practices in Australian universities to respond to individual student needs in more effective and timely ways. These are illustrated using examples from the redevelopment of services provided by an Indigenous Education centre in a Go8 university, along with data gathered from our ARC study into Indigenous academic persistence in formal learning across three Australian universities.

scholarly journals Higher Education Completion Rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students Using A Multi-Agency Matched Population Cohort

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Ladbrook ◽  
Luke Hendrickson
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Information Management System ◽  
Income Support ◽  
Completion Rates ◽  
Indigenous Students ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Random Forest Tree ◽  
Torres Strait

Using the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP), which combines health, tax, welfare and demographic data with student data, our analysis looked at the relationship between income support and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university completion rates. IntroductionDomestic undergraduate university completion rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are significantly lower (40%) than non-Indigenous students (66%). Few prior studies have used population level matched data from multiple agencies to analyse the determinants of Australian Indigenous completion rates. Objectives and ApproachWe aimed to quantify the major determinants driving the completion rates of Indigenous students in Australian undergraduate university courses compared with domestic non-Indigenous students. We used the Higher Education Information Management System (HEIMS) linked to the MADIP creating approximately 555, 000 records. A Random forest tree was constructed to determine the most important indicators for outcome of interest which were then used for matching and statistical analysis. Summary statistics and a binomial logit was used on the matched sample to confirm significance. ResultsWe found that Indigenous students are more likely to start university belonging to around three equity groups such as having a lower socio-economic status background, older commencement age and being the first member of their family to attend university. However, Indigenous status remains a significant contributor to lower completion rates after controlling for a wide range of equity groups. One factor that has a positive influence on Indigenous university completion rates is access to study assistance. Completion rates for Indigenous students who were not members of other equity groups on income support was 70 per cent compared to 57 per cent for similar students on no income support. Conclusion / ImplicationsThese linked datasets provide the opportunity to better evaluate the drivers of completion rates of Australian Indigenous students to inform and evaluate policy reforms.

scholarly journals Editorial

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. iii-iv
Author(s):  
Martin Nakata ◽  
Katelyn Barney
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Academic Institution ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Mentoring Programs ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Torres Strait

We are very pleased to bring you Volume 47, issue 2 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. The theme of this year's NAIDOC week was ‘Because of her we can’ so it is appropriate that the first article in this volume focuses on the gendered stories of pathways through university by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. Using Ahmed's work on ‘wilfulness’, Rennie explores the resilience, resistance and persistence of seven female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander higher education students and considers the ways they negotiate pathways and success through university. Bright and Mackinlay also draw on the concept of ‘wilfulness’ to report on the successes and failures of a research project exploring mentoring programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander preservice teachers. They suggest that tensions are always present between the need to comply with the expectations of a Western academic institution while engaging in a wilful pursuit of the kinds of resistance that may be necessary in attempts at decoloniality. Also drawing on a decolonial lens, McDowall explore how preservice teachers position themselves and how they consider their relationships and ethical responsibilities in the field of Indigenous education. Pre-service teachers in different context are the focus of Torepe and Manning who examine the lived experiences and various challenges confronting this group of experienced Māori language teachers working in English-medium, state-funded schools.

scholarly journals Editorial

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. iii-iv
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Australian Journal ◽  
Research Groups ◽  
Research Journal ◽  
Torres Strait

The challenge for any research journal today is how to continue to make the work we publish relevant, contemporary and innovative for the research groups, educational organisations, and Indigenous communities locally and globally that we serve. At the same time, we recognise it is important for us to continue our work in The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education within the critical pedagogical agenda in which it began; that is, the empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through education, combined with a concern to critique and challenge the national and international colonial contexts in which Indigenous education is positioned today.

scholarly journals Editorial

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. iii-iii
Author(s):  
Katelyn Barney ◽  
Martin Nakata
Keyword(s):  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Indigenous Education ◽  
50Th Anniversary ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Torres Strait Islander People ◽  
Legal Doctrine ◽  
25Th Anniversary ◽  
University Environment ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Torres Strait

We are very pleased to bring you Volume 46 of The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. This year is a particularly significant time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues and education. It marks the 25th anniversary of the landmark Mabo decision that refuted the legal doctrine of terra nullius and recognised that the Miriam people were continuously present and exclusively possessed Mer in the Torres Strait. It is also the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, a significant milestone resulting in constitutional change to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the national census. This year also marks the release of the Universities Australia Indigenous Strategy 2017–2020, which is designed to provide a sector-wide initiative that binds all universities together with common goals. The strategy includes important initiatives to increase the numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people participating in higher education, increase the engagement of non-Indigenous people with Indigenous knowledge and educational approaches, and improve the university environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

scholarly journals The Fallacy of the Bolted Horse: Changing Our Thinking About Mature-Age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander University Students

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Plater ◽  
Julie Mooney-Somers ◽  
Jo Lander
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
University Students ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
University Education ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
The Public ◽  
Extrinsic Value ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Torres Strait

The aim of this article is to critically review and analyse the public representations of mature-age university students in developed and some developing nations and how they compare to the public representations of mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students in Australia (‘students’ also refers to graduates unless the context requires specificity). Relevant texts were identified by reviewing education-related academic and policy literature, media opinion and reportage pieces, conference proceedings, and private sector and higher education reviews, reports and submissions. What this review reveals is striking: very few commentators are publicly and unambiguously encouraging, supporting and celebrating mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students. This strongly contrasts with the discussions around mature-age university students in general, where continuous or lifelong learning is acclaimed and endorsed, particularly as our populations grow older and remain healthier and there are relatively lower numbers of working-age people. While scholars, social commentators, bureaucrats and politicians enthusiastically highlight the intrinsic and extrinsic value of the mature-age student's social and economic contributions, the overarching narrative of the mature-age Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student is one of ‘the horse has bolted’, meaning that it is too late for this cohort and therefore society to benefit from their university education. In this article we examine these conflicting positions, investigate why this dichotomy exists, present an alternative view for consideration, and make recommendations for further research into this area.

Indigenous Research: Three Researchers Reflect on their Experiences at the Interface

2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (S1) ◽  
pp. 23-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deanne Minniecon ◽  
Naomi Franks ◽  
Maree Heffernan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Cultural Interface ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Torres Strait

AbstractUtilising Nakata’s (2007) description of the “cultural interface”, two Indigenous researchers and one non-Indigenous researcher examine their development of Indigenous research in and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities conducted from within an institution of higher education. The authors reflect on their experiences in developing an Indigenous research project and use Indigenous standpoint theory as a device to explore these experiences. The framing of priorities and research questions, ethics processes, the treatment of project information or data, the managing of competing accountabilities, and the role of non-Indigenous researchers in Indigenous research are all explored in these reflections.

… but what about the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Health Worker academic? Transcending the role of ‘unknowing assistant’ in health care and research through higher education: a personal journey

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-126
Author(s):  
Janet Stajic
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Health System ◽  
Health Worker ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Clinical Skills ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Australian Health ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
Torres Strait Islander Health

AbstractThe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker/Practitioner (A&TSIHW) workforce provides not only clinical skills but also responds to specific social and cultural needs of the communities they serve bringing knowledge derived from lived and embodied knowledges. The A&TSIHW is a recognised health professional within the Australian health system; however, this workforce continues to be under-supported, under-recognised and under-utilised. A common discourse in literature written about A&TSIHWs focused on the need to empower and enhance the A&TSIHW capabilities, or rendered the A&TSIHW as part of the problem in improving the health of Indigenous peoples. In contrast, articles written by A&TSIHWs, published in the Aboriginal and Islander Health Worker Journal, tell a different story, one about the limitations of the health system in its ability to care for Indigenous peoples, recognising A&TSIHW leadership. This paper deals with two interrelated tensions—the undervaluing of the A&TSIHW as a clinician and the undervaluing of the A&TSIHW as an academic—both of which the author has had to navigate. It explores the specific challenges of the A&TSIHW academic who too seeks recognition beyond that of ‘assistant’ within the research enterprise, drawing upon personal experiences and engagement with educational institutions, including higher education.

Reinventing Another Unaipon: Indigenous Science Leaders for the Future

2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-225
Author(s):  
Karen Trimmer ◽  
Graeme Gower ◽  
Graeme Lock
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Torres Strait Islander ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Indigenous Science ◽  
Stem Programs ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Education Science ◽  
Australian Universities

The education of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students in Australian universities has received considerable attention in both the literature and government policy in the 21st century. The participation and graduation rates for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander students in higher education Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs have remained low and are becoming a particular focus in universities across Australia. This paper reflects on the life and contribution of David Unaipon, the enrolment data from a small sample of universities across Australia and the literature to discuss potential strategies for improving the access to, participation in and graduation from higher education STEM courses.

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