Open AccessDeveloping Our Voices: Pacific Early Career Academics’ Journeys in Aotearoa New Zealand
Author(s) -
Tim Baice,
Sereaepi,
Patrick Thomsen,
Karamia Müller,
Marcia Leenen-Young,
Sam Manuela,
Sisikula Sisifa
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of new zealand studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.102
0eISSN - 2324-3740
pISSN - 1176-306X
DOI - 10.26686/jnzs.ins33.7379
Subject(s) - aotearoa , nature versus nurture , thematic analysis , colonialism , project commissioning , institution , sociology , australian population , publishing , higher education , pacific islanders , population , management , political science , economic growth , gender studies , social science , qualitative research , anthropology , economics , demography , law
The proportion of Pacific academics in permanent confirmation path positions at New Zealand universities (1.4 percent) continues to lag far behind the Pacific share of New Zealand’s population (7 percent). In this paper, we use a thematic talanoa to explore the experiences of Pacific early career academics (PECA) at the University of Auckland to highlight the key themes, challenges and features of our daily lives in the colonial, Western, and Pākehā institution that is the university. This paper sheds light on the systemic and structural barriers that impact PECA journeys through higher education and suggests actions that universities in New Zealand can take to further support, nurture, and develop PECA pathways into and upward through the academy.