First Peoples' Perspectives on Engagement at University: What Keeps Students Coming Back to Indigenous Education Units?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the factors which influence First Peoples students’ decisions to access and engage with GUMURRII Student Success Unit, the Indigenous Education Unit at Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. Higher education plays a critical role in improving socioeconomic outcomes in First Peoples communities; however, First Peoples are underrepresented, with lower participation and higher attrition rates than non-Indigenous students. Engagement with Indigenous Education Units can improve student progression, retention and success; however, the nature of engagement with Indigenous Education Units has not been widely examined. This research adopts an interpretive case study approach using concurrent mixed methods including survey, focus groups, individual interviews, and document analysis to examine students’ engagement with GUMURRII. The incorporation of Nakata’s Cultural Interface and Indigenous Standpoint Theory into the research design privileged First Peoples students’ voices, and allowed experiences to be shared from their perspectives. There were six clear findings identified in this study, indicating that students access and engage with GUMURRII for reasons far beyond seeking traditional forms of support. Findings include (a) making the initial connection to GUMURRII, (b) becoming part of the First Peoples’ student community, (c) understanding the full resource potential of GUMURRII, and (d) knowing how to access these resources. Finally, there were (e) additional factors identified as contributing to student success, and (f) new, creative suggestions from First Peoples students that should be pursued. Through understanding why students initially access and engage with GUMURRII and continue to do so, recommendations surrounding targeted programs and opportunities that contribute to retention, progression and success of students could be made. This research could be used to not only improve First Peoples students’ success and work toward parity, but more broadly could inform university-wide support and the work of Indigenous Education Units across Australia.