Indigenous Women College Students’ Perspectives on College, Work, and Family

Abstract

Native American and First Nations (hereafter referred to as indigenous*) women college students are faced with a challenge to balance both their culture and the demands of the dominant Western culture in family, school, and work/employment roles. The presence of indigenous women in higher education and in the work force has increased since World War II. While there is an abundance of literature on work-family balance and work-family conflict, with some focus on the perspectives and expectations of college-aged students, there is a dearth in both of these areas with regards to indigenous populations. In order to begin to explore the experiences and perspectives of work and family, this study analyzed unstructured qualitative interviews of 11 Native American and 9 First Nations female college students. Themes resulting from the hermeneutic analysis of texts that describe the tensions around career, family and education were (a) honoring indigenous culture and community, (b) living in two worlds, (c) pursuing individual fulfillment and goals, and (d) acknowledging the importance and influence of family.

Integrated systematic review on educational strategies that promote academic success and resilience in undergraduate indigenous students

“…The importance of family and connection to community were noted as crucial to the success of Indigenous students (Kippen et al 2006;Usher et al, 2005;West et al 2013;Day et al 2009;Bingham et al 2014). Most authors also confirmed the importance of cultural, financial & academic support students gained from IESU's.…”

“…A qualitative research design was used in 11 of the 16 research papers (Adams et al, 2005;Plater, 2013;Oloo, 2007;Usher, Lindsay, Miller & Miller, 2005;Kippen, Ward & Warren, 2006;Digregorio, Farrington & Page, 2000;West, Usher, Foster & Stewart, 2014;Bingham, Bearchief Adolpho, Jackson, Alexitch, 2014;Day & Nolde, 2009;Hall, Rata & Adds, 2013;Craven & Dillon 2013), four were mixed methods (West, Usher, Buetther, Foster & Stewart, 2013;Asmar et al, 2011;Oliver et al, 2013;Bennett et al, 2002), and a quantitative research method was used in one study (Pechenkina, Kowal & Paradies, 2011).…”

“…For the purposes of this review, sample characteristics were included under 'ways of being', which acknowledges the cultural diversity of participants across the included papers. Eleven studies were undertaken in Australia (Adams et al, 2005;Plater, 2013;Usher et al, 2005;Kippen et al, 2006;Digregorio et al, 2000;West et al, 2014;Day et al, 2009;Craven & Dillon, 2013;West et al, 2013;Oliver et al, 2013;Pechenkina et al, 2011), with two studies from Canada (Oloo, 2007;Bingham et al, 2014) and two from New Zealand (Hall et al 2013;& Bennett et al, 2002). One of the Canadian studies recruited participants across the south west of the United States of America (Bingham et al, 2014) and another study recruited participants from the Australasian region (Asmar et al, 2011).…”

“…Two studies also included non-Indigenous participants (Oloo, 2007;West et al, 2014). The gender of participants was reported in five papers (Bennett et al 2002;Bingham et al, 2014;Hall et al 2013;Oloo 2007;West et al 2014). These studies all reflected a similar ratio of female to male Indigenous students as reported in the Australasian survey of student engagement (Asmar Page & Radcliff 2011).…”

“…DiGregorio et al, (2000) inductively analysed interview data and checked with participants to confirm the 'correctness' of the analysis. Similarly, the environment and place of interviews were considered important (Usher et al 2005;Bingham et al, 2014). Plater (2013) stated that her professional knowledge of teaching Indigenous students in academia enriched her understanding of the data.…”