Racism and Resilience in Australian Aboriginal Graduates’ Experiences of Higher Education

Abstract

The Indigenous populace in Australia is vastly underrepresented in higher education, and many students leave before receiving their award (Bradley, Noonan, Nugent, & Scales, 2009). There is a need to understand the difficulties faced by Indigenous students and the factors that aid their participation. This study examined two case studies of Indigenous graduates’ resilience through an interpretative phenomenological lens. Data from in-depth interviews illuminated challenges faced by Indigenous students, discussed in terms of context-specific understanding of resilience and implications for Universities, generating of an inclusive community environment, assessing the relevancy of offered courses and increasing flexibility of higher education for Indigenous students.