title: The Kungullanji Research Program: An Indigenist Phenomenological Study of an Undergraduate Research Experience for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students
Creators: name: Campbell, Jennifer
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students
subject: Undergraduate research experiences (UREs)
subject: Kungullanji

description: The knowledges and research practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be recognised, respected, and supported as part of the diverse research endeavours of a university and the nation. Systemic and institutionalised racism within educational policies, procedures and structures has imposed barriers to progression for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Institutions fail to recognise and respect the wealth of experiences, strengths, and knowledge that Indigenous people bring to research. Historical exclusion and deficit stereotyping prevent access to research communities and the development of research capital. Universities must find ways to address systemic racism and support initiatives that move beyond tokenism. These initiatives should authentically support the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scholars to help them navigate this cultural interface. Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have been shown internationally to provide dynamic spaces for people from minority groups to develop research capital and create pathways to careers in research. UREs present an opportunity for the provision of new spaces in Australian institutions that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research, build research capital, and build communities of undergraduate researchers. UREs as a mechanism to transform tertiary institutions into more supportive spaces for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research have not yet been explored in the Australian context. This thesis explores the phenomenon of a URE designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander undergraduate students at an Australian university. It seeks to understand how this unique URE creates research possibilities, networks, and social capital for undergraduate students. The study employs the lenses of critical race theory, Indigenous standpoint theory, and communities of practice theory in designing an Indigenist phenomenological methodological analytical approach. Indigenist data collection methods include the use of yarning and Dadirri deep listening and reflection to privilege the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants in this research. The phenomenon is examined from the perspective of the program coordinator through the auto-ethnographical approach of scholarly personal narratives, and from the perspectives iv of the Kungullanji Research Program scholars using yarning methodology and a post program survey. The Kungullanji Research Program was found to: (1) provide new opportunities to interrupt colonising processes and perceptions of students as “non-researchers”; (2) build individual research capital in addition to the benefits generally gained from UREs, to increase student success; (3) build communities of practice among undergraduate researchers that connect with and strengthen existing research communities; and (4) as a result of this social capital and the community of practice, support new research trajectories of program scholars. The Kungullanji community of practice and consequent social capital both enabled and empowered these scholars to navigate the cultural interface within university research environments and helped them to challenge the racial structures that would normally prevent them, and others following, from participating in research. The significance of this research – the first of its kind investigation of UREs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student scholars – lies in its analysis of how Indigenous knowledges, student voice and co-design assembled to deliver these transformative opportunities. The recommendations herein illustrate to the university sector and research communities throughout Australia how Indigenist research spaces can be developed with the potential to transform not only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ lives and careers, but research and knowledge creation across the tertiary education sector.