Keywords

3.1 Introduction

Thank you for giving Indigenous PhD students like myself, the wonderful opportunities NIRAKN offer (OLS1_IndigenousHDR10).

From 2013 to 2021, Indigenous HDR students have had the opportunity to be a part of the National Indigenous Research and Knowledges Network (NIRAKN). NIRAKN is in its legacy phase with funding having been extended until the end of 2022 to complete associated research projects and to develop an online Website where the capacity-building resources will be stored and made freely available to anyone.

NIRAKN was made possible by funding awarded from the Australian Research Council’s Special Research Initiative (SRI120100005) that was applied for by Distinguished Professor Moreton-Robinson. Moreton-Robinson was Director of NIRAKN from 2013 to late 2017 when Professor Peter Anderson became Director of NIRAKN. Professor Anderson, who is based at the Queensland University of Technology, is the National Hub Leader who has responsibilities for Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, Canberra and Western Australia. Associate Professor Linda Ford is State Hub Leader for South Australia and the Northern Territory. Pro-Vice Chancellor (Indigenous Strategy) Dr. Leanne Holt is State Hub Leader for New South Wales. All of the Hub Leaders also had Chief Investigators in NIRAKN who worked with them to deliver the capacity-building workshops and/or conduct research.

NIRAKN’s stated aims are as follows:

  1. 1.

    Establish a coterie of skilled, qualified Indigenous researchers by creating pathways from undergraduate to postgraduate studies to establish a regenerative pipeline of new researchers, across institutions, the nation and fields of critical research importance.

  2. 2.

    Deliver a program of research capacity building in order to develop a critical mass of multidisciplinary, qualified Indigenous researchers to meet the compelling research needs of our communities.

  3. 3.

    Connect Indigenous researchers nationally and internationally to develop culturally supportive, inclusive research environments, which enable cross fertilisation of ideas and provide platforms for new Indigenous multidisciplinary research.

  4. 4.

    Begin setting the Indigenous research agenda by applying Indigenous knowledges and expertise to multidisciplinary, collaborative projects directed at compelling the research needed to inform community and government policy and program delivery.

  5. 5.

    Develop an ongoing, integrated research program of collaborations with partner organisations through the ARC, NHMRC, government, industry, community and philanthropic grant funding.

  6. 6.

    Achieve national and international recognition as the centre of Australian Indigenous research expertise, knowledge and innovation (Moreton-Robinson, 2016, p. 3).

In this chapter, we describe the capacity-building workshops that were an essential component of NIRAKN (Aim 2 above). Since 2013, these workshops have been offered face to face to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Indigenous) HDR students across Australia. State Hub Leaders were responsible for offering the capacity-building workshops to Indigenous HDR students within the state(s) and/or territory. Funding was provided by the National Hub based at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to State Hub Leaders for two purposes: first, State Hub Leaders received funding to complete an agreed-upon research project; and second, funding was provided to run capacity-building workshops (Anderson, 2020). Funding to deliver capacity-building workshops included providing meals during the training and all travel and accommodation costs for participants.

Professor Peter Anderson commenced the role of NIRAKN Director in late 2017 and Dr. Levon Blue commenced as the NIRAKN Coordinator in January 2018. All data collected and analysed in this book is from 2018 to 2021 only as that was when ethical approval was sought and gained for various research projects relating to the needs and experiences of Indigenous HDR students.

In 2018, all State Hub Leaders attended a train-the-trainer workshop where they were provided with a hard drive that included all of the capacity-building resources and evaluation forms. The last offering of face-to-face capacity-building workshops occurred in 2020 by the state and/or territory Hub Leaders who still had capacity-building funds. The travel restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that some workshops occurred online. In 2020, a decision to move the capacity-building workshops to online offerings was made with approval by the ARC representatives. The revised NIRAKN Website that include the capacity-building workshops is available at www.nirakn.edu.au. To contextualise the NIRAKN workshops, an overview of what they entailed is discussed. However, before focusing on the workshop, we will identify the methods and data analysis used.

3.2 Methodology and Data Analysis

Indigenous research methodologies that focus on relationship building, reciprocity, relational accountability and respect (Wilson, 2008) have guided our research practices. The research was made possible through funding provided by the ARC and also through the relationships that were formed with Indigenous HDR students attending NIRAKN capacity-building workshops. The research projects conducted have provided opportunities to develop trust, relational accountabilities and a sense of equal research partnerships as both the researchers and the participants (Indigenous HDR students) contribute towards the goal of understanding how more Indigenous HDR students can experience success in their study goals.

Informing this chapter are evaluations completed during the QLD/NSW 2018 capacity-building workshops at QUT and the capacity-building workshop on the Gold Coast (n = 65) and the NIRAKN evaluation form completed in 2021 (n = 13) (see Moreton-Robinson et al., 2020). The pen-and-paper evaluation forms were completed by Indigenous HDR students at the end of the capacity-building workshops. The forms were then scanned into NVivo and coded to identify themes. The online NIRAKN evaluation survey was developed using the Qualtrics online platform. The responses from the capacity-building workshops were uploaded in NVivo so that they could be read, tagged and coded into themes. The online survey evaluations were smaller in number and were analysed using Excel, where the responses were read, and text was highlighted and placed into themes. In the next section, we report on the themes from all sources of data (see Table 3.1).

Table 3.1 Datasets relating to NIRAKN
Full size table

3.3 The Workshops

Just that I wish there were more NIRAKN workshops offered each year! They really are invaluable (WEF_IndigenousHDR3).

Prior to the NIRAKN capacity-building workshops, few such opportunities were available for Indigenous HDR students (Behrendt et al., 2012). Thus, Moreton-Robinson (2016) advocated that “University investment in stable and properly funded Indigenous research and research capacity building is critical to achieving Indigenous research success” (p. 9). Since 2013, Indigenous HDR students have had access to the capacity-building workshops that focused on their needs and experiences and provided opportunities for them and Indigenous academics to network at NIRAKN events and conferences. Since NIRAKN is a national initiative, State Hub Leaders were established to focus on particular states to provide capacity-building training workshops.

Each State Hub Leader conducted their capacity-building workshops according to the needs of the HDR students enrolled at the universities they engaged with. In this chapter, we are referring to the NIRAKN capacity-building workshops that were run by the National NIRAKN Hub at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for which Professor Peter Anderson was the State Hub Leader.

At the national hub, three workshops were offered. The first was an introductory three-day workshop for students in the early stages of their candidature. Presenters covered topics such as graduate capabilities, dissertation examination, developing research questions, conducting database searches, conference presentation protocols, using EndNote, project management, applying for grants, practical writing tips, value of publishing and career choice pathways. A two-day masterclass on Indigenous research methodologies was also offered. This masterclass included topics such as ‘Introduction to Indigenous Research Methodologies’, ‘Why Indigenous Research Methodologies’, ‘Rigor in Research Using Indigenous Research Methodologies’, ‘Indigenous Standpoint Theory’, ‘Indigenous Women’s Standpoint Theory’, ‘Indigenous Research Methodologies: Culture and Methods’, ‘Focus on Indigenous Researchers’ and examples of using Indigenous Research Methodologies and Methods while designing and managing successful research projects. A one-day critical reading workshop was also offered and covered topics such as how to read critically, including a practical example and opportunities to read your own article and identify problems, as well as tips for reading, thinking and writing critically. Although topics covered by the capacity-building workshops (with the exception of the Indigenous Research Methodologies masterclass) are offered at most higher education institutions, it was noted that Indigenous HDR students often did not attend these seminars. Therefore, there continues to be an ongoing demand by Indigenous HDR students to attend the capacity-building workshops offered by NIRAKN, in addition to those already available at the university. Another important reason Indigenous HDR students attended the NIRAKN workshops was because it provided them with an opportunity to network with other Indigenous HDR students from other universities and/or Indigenous academics from around Australia.

3.4 Networking

An additional outcome of attending the NIRAKN capacity-building workshops was the opportunity to form support networks over the years. These Indigenous postgraduate networks “enabled peer support and fostered an exchange of ideas” (Moreton-Robinson, 2016, p. 4). There have also been opportunities for Indigenous HDR students and Indigenous academics to come together at conferences (see Anderson, 2019, 2020). Providing these networking events has enabled Indigenous HDR students to see a possible future for themselves in academia. During these events and in the capacity-building workshops, time was spent answering students’ questions about academia, including how to navigate higher education without having academic capital. By academic capital, we are referring to a student’s ability to navigate academia with an understanding of how the system works and with the belief that they belong.

A student who attended the capacity-building workshops at QUT stated that “NIRAKN is where we all, as Indigenous researchers should start!” (WEF_IndigenousHDR1). They questioned why they were not informed about NIRAKN earlier and stated that “the insider knowledge that was shared, was very, very much appreciated. It has made me feel my journey is going along well and I am on track” (WEF_IndigenousHDR1). The insider knowledge the participant referred to includes the informal conversations the facilitators had with HDR students about what takes place in higher education, including how theses are examined, how researchers are ranked in internal research databases, and how Indigenous people are targeted as Chief Investigators (CIs) for ARC grants and/or to co-author publications that involve Indigenous matters. The academic capital shared and acquired at NIRAKN workshops was another outcome of the workshops.

3.5 Do I Belong?

Since many participants mentioned they did not have conversations with friends and family about their HDR journey, NIRAKN was valued for “being able to do it with qualified Indigenous peoples” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR13). Some participants mentioned that at times they felt like they did not belong in higher education. To address this, we discussed imposter syndrome and shared how many academics still have imposter syndrome long after receiving their doctoral degree. ‘Imposter syndrome’ was first coined by Clance and Imes (1978) and is about the feelings an individual (in their study, it was about women) has about not really belonging as an academic despite having the academic qualifications and believing that they have been able to fool individuals that they belong in academia. In a more recent paper, Edwards (2019) stated that “self-doubt was illustrative of systematic issues within the broader social context; and imposter syndrome, stereotype threat, and intersectionality are three lenses that offer language to examine the theoretical constructs that were at play” (p. 23). With many Indigenous HDR, students come into academia with intersections of marginalised identities, including a low-income background and being first-generation students and Indigenous, the unfamiliar territory can come with feelings associated with not belonging and needing to tread softly so that no one discovers that you ‘fooled’ your supervisors into taking you on as a HDR student.

After having open conversations with HDR students about imposter syndrome, one participant stated that “being aware of imposter syndrome is important and when these feelings/fears come over me – and then what steps I need to take to address it”. Discussing the concept of imposter syndrome and normalising the feeling reassured participants that they belonged in academia.

3.6 Realising I Do Belong

It’s such a great program and is so deadly being able to meet up with other First Nations students so you don’t feel so alone (WEF_IndigenousHDR13).

Edwards (2019) reflected on what was believed a scholar looked like (which was far from what was envisioned—for example, a laboratory coat, Albert Einstein) and realised that it was important for students to reconceptualise the definition of a scholar in order to come to the realisation that they are indeed a scholar. Realising that you do belong in academia is required to enact agency in academic settings. Agency is discussed in the next chapter, and it has to do with feeling comfortable and confident to ask questions and request support.

In facilitating these workshops, it became evident in the formal conversations with the participants that when they met other Indigenous HDR students with similar backgrounds, experiences and/or concerns about belonging, that by participating in NIRAKN had helped to reinforce that they do belong in academia.

We also spent time discussing how to navigate academia if the end goal of the participants was to work as an academic.

3.7 Learning How to Play ‘The Game’

[NIRAKN] helped me to understand what is involved in an academic career pathway (WEF_IndigenousHDR5).

Acquiring academic capital also involved talking about how to be an academic and unpacking how academics are evaluated. “Understanding the academic game and how to play it and/or be aware of it” was mentioned by a participant. The information shared relating to this comment included the metrics universities keep on academic staff members, including the number of grants applied for and awarded, the number of students being supervised and the number and quality of publications by academics.

The issue of relationships with supervisors was often raised and is the focus on Chap. 6. However, once we informed students that supervisors are evaluated based on the number of HDR students they have and the rate of completions, this helped the students understand the nature of the reciprocal relationship. By having conversations about the metrics kept on academics, a shift was sensed in how the students understood the relationship with supervisors. They now understood that the relationship was designed to be mutually beneficial. Despite this knowledge, students still tended to report that they felt they were a burden to their supervisors.

We felt it was also important to spend some time discussing what the role of a supervisor entails and what it does not. When students understood what roles belong with the supervisor and what roles reside with the candidate, the boundaries were much clearer (see Chap. 6 for more insight).

Another conversation that emerged was about HDRs being offered co-authorship of publications with academics who had completed research on Indigenous matters. Being asked to co-author a paper was discussed as both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity is about obtaining a publication, and the challenges are about providing some form of authority that what has been conducted and/or written involved respectful and/or appropriate means for engagement with Indigenous peoples involved in the research. Another related challenge was about contributing to a publication outside your own discipline and/or the time being a co-author takes away from your own research. Ultimately, the choice resides with the candidate, who needs to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of being a co-author.

The facilitators were also able to share with the HDR students how as an academic post-PhD they may be invited to be a CI on ARC grant applications where Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander academics are needed. Again, the same challenges as stated above apply, with a further challenge of being limited to being a CI on two ARC discovery applications, thus making it important to be involved in projects connected to your discipline and/or passion and also knowing the other academics involved and making sure you feel that you can work with these individuals.

3.8 Becoming an Academic

Even though I knew my topic area better than anyone, I was given excellent direction and support from First Nations Peoples who had the right knowledge and experience in areas I was less confident (WEF_IndigenousHDR10).

Aside from networking, NIRAKN was deemed helpful by participants during each stage of the HDR journey. ‘Playing the game’ of becoming an academic involves completing various milestones for a doctoral thesis. NIRAKN participants commented on the usefulness of NIRAKN during the confirmation, data collection, data analysis, writing up and presentation stage of their journey.

3.8.1 Confirmation

During the confirmation stage, one participant stated that by attending the NIRAKN workshops “[they were] finally reading the right books and learnt about methodologies that made sense” (WEF_IndigenousHDR13). Another participant mentioned that NIRAKN help them to “clarify [their] research topic and research question … [and] scholarly sources to cite … [and] developed [their] critical thinking” (WEF_IndigenousHDR3). Other participants mentioned how attending the workshops helped build their confidence and cultural support, with one stating that NIRAKN “helped [them] to prepare for [their] next steps in [their] PhD and meet others at a similar stage to share ideas” (WEF_IndigenousHDR12).

3.8.2 Data Collection

Participants stated that the data collection stage was helpful because: “It provided me with insight on ethical research approaches and methods. It reminded me of the political and personal reasons of why my research is important and why I am doing it. The conversations about Indigenous research at the workshop helped keep me on track” (WEF_IndigenousHDR3).

Participants often mentioned the political and personal reasons for conducting their research. As facilitators, we often had to redirect statements such as “I’m doing this research for my Community” to “You are doing this research to make a new contribution to knowledge in your discipline”. Reminding students what the requirements of a research degree entails helped to reposition the duties and responsibilities back on the candidate.

Another participant mentioned that “I was able to find research methods that suited my mob based on information shared in NIRAKN” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR13). Similarly, another participant stated that NIRAKN “provided information about Indigenous research approaches” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR5) and that the workshops “built my understanding and knowledge of Indigenous research methodologies” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR7). NIRAKN may be the only national workshop that has focused on Indigenous Research Methodologies and Methods for HDR students.

Finally, a participant stated that the workshop “helped me consider other things for my data collection I hadn’t thought about” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR12). Here, the participant may have been referring to the discussion that ‘you aren’t giving back to the Community by conducting research’, because the research degree is awarded to the HDR candidate, and all information contained in the thesis belongs to the candidate.

3.8.3 Data Analysis

NIRAKN participants also reported that the workshops helped with the data analysis stage of their candidature. “It helped me interrogate the assumptions behind different analytical frameworks. Although my study had already been designed with an analysis plan developed, it helped me to cast a critical eye over what I was planning to do with the data” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR2).

As HDR students engage in conversations about their milestones, they demonstrate that they do belong and that they have the shared language other academics used in higher education settings. For instance, one participant stated that the NIRAKN workshop “enabled me to think deeply about the theoretical premise of my research, which was critical to my analysis” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR7). Most individuals outside of academia likely do not talk about theoretical frameworks informing their analysis. So, whether participants realised it, being a participant in NIRAKN workshops also involved transitioning from sitting on the sidelines feeding your imposter syndrome to sitting tall and being an academic.

3.8.4 Write Up

Although capacity-building workshops are widely available to all HDR students at universities across Australia, it has been reported that many Indigenous HDR students have not attended these sessions. One participant commented that “I had spent a long time at other universities never having the writing process and thesis structure explained to me. NIRAKN workshops were critical in explaining how my thesis should be structured and supporting me with my academic writing” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR7). In the workshop, we also focused on how theses are examined. Another participant stated that “it was extremely helpful. It was the first time I was introduced to the examination criteria for PhD theses – it helped me to understand the examination criteria and the idea of writing to an audience” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR2).

Citing the works of Indigenous scholars was also discussed as a way to pay respect to the scholars around the world who had laid the foundations for Indigenous scholars and who continue to do so. The importance of acknowledging the work of Indigenous scholars who have come before them was captured by this quote: “I felt that I was on the right path in continuing the work of others that came before me. It gave me a sense of direction” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR13).

Another participant stated that “I was able to recall the Indigenous scholarly sources that I could refer back to and cite” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR3). Another participant recalled the importance of other students sharing their process: “Just hearing other students’ experiences and ideas helped me think about mine and prepare” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR12). Providing a space for Indigenous HDR candidate to feel comfortable sharing their progress, strategies and tips also provided benefits to other participants, who were able to see value in what was being shared.

3.8.5 Presentations

The last area participants commented on was in delivering academic presentations. “It’s really helped me to gain a better sense of what entails a good research presentation. Not only did the workshop highlight the features of presenting research, but the calibre of the presenters evidenced how to present knowledge and research” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR2). Learning by observing facilitators present at NIRAKN events also demonstrated how to present in an academic setting. Another participant mentioned that the NIRAKN workshops “gave me confidence because I had discussed my research in front of other Indigenous critical thinkers beforehand, and from that I was able to consider the perspectives of others in my research and feel more comfortable when talking with other Indigenous people and others about my research” (OLS1_IndigenousHDR3). Learning how to present and how to take feedback and/or questions from the audience without bringing emotions into the discussion was also seen as a valuable lesson. Making sure that you are comfortable presenting and discussing the topic was deemed an important self-reflection practice to consider before presenting in academic settings.

3.9 The Legacy Phase

During 2021 and into 2022, NIRAKN enters the legacy phase of the project, with funding scheduled to end on 31 December 2022. All the capacity-building resources will be available from the NIRAKN Website (see nirakn.edu.au). Despite the successes of NIRAKN, all good things usually come to an end. As such, we encourage all higher education institutions with Indigenous HDR candidates to invest in professional development to support their candidatures. Insights on how best to do this can be gleaned from the NIRAKN annual reports (see Anderson, 2020).

We also have a cautionary note about how Indigenous HDR students should also be prepared throughout their candidature to be competitive postdoctoral fellows because, despite the focus on the requirements of the HDR candidature, Mantai (2019) argues that doctoral studies are not enough to become an academic. Other considerations are the importance of juggling other academic duties, such as tutoring and/or lecturing, being involved in other research projects and/or offering services to the discipline or community through organising conferences and peer reviewing papers. In the next chapter, we will focus on another key component to being an academic having agency in an academic context.