Claiming the space, creating the future

Academia is a world based on individualism and competitiveness, which for Indigenous peoples, and particularly Indigenous women, is culturally unsafe. Furthermore, whilst the academy is rushing forward to be inclusive of Indigenous peoples, cultures and knowledges, it does so whilst still maintaining its structures of white, patriarchal privilege. Hence, the academy is a place that frequently leaves Indigenous women feeling isolated and patronised and questioning if there is a place for them. However, despite the barriers and the obstacles of academia, Indigenous women continue to enter and carve out a place for themselves and for other Indigenous women. This article, through the words of each of the three women, will explore their experiences as an Associate Professor and two PhD students on their journeys of claiming their places within the academia as Indigenous women. In the recent past, each of these women has separately and together worked to create and claim their places within the academy. This article will conclude with advice for the upcoming generations of Indigenous women academics on how to stand strong and, most importantly, in solidarity with one another.

© Australian Council for Educational Research 2018.