Sweat Equity: Student Scholarships in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Universities

Abstract

This paper responds to calls from past and present students to increase the value of postgraduate scholarships in Aotearoa New Zealand. Here we provide context for understanding the scholarship landscape in Aotearoa, including how scholarships are understood in relation to dominant neoliberal framings of higher education and persistent inequities within the sector. We present data which provides insight into the current inequities in Summer, Masters and PhD scholarship values. The average value of PhD scholarships has remained stagnant between 2011 and 2019 resulting in the average being $11,238 less than the Living Wage in 2019. We show that the average length of time full-time PhD students take to complete their doctorates exceeds the three-year tenure of scholarships. We argue the status-quo of low scholarships, supplemented by postgraduate ‘sweat’, excludes people from participating in postgraduate education, preventing them and their communities from realising the public benefits that such an education can produce. We suggest that these inadequacies could be addressed through (1) raising Summer, Masters and PhD scholarships to the living wage; (2) extending tenure of PhD scholarships; and (3) reinstating the postgraduate student allowance.

A Failed Attempt at Participatory Video With Takatāpui/LGBTIQ+ People Who Had Experienced Homelessness

“…The neoliberalisation of universities places significant emphasis on efficiency both of time and of finances, and encourages privatisation, competition, and selfreliance (Chávez et al, 2004). For doctoral students at our university, financial and time stressors are two of the most significant stressors placed on doctoral students (Chávez et al, 2004) Students are expected to complete in three years and scholarships only provide funding for three years, despite the average PhD taking just under 4 years to complete (Chávez et al, 2004) This is reiterated by other Aotearoa-specific research, which highlights low monetary value of postgraduate stipends and the too-short timeframe they provide students to complete their studies in (Soar et al, 2022). The need for BF to complete their PhD before funding ran out was a considerable concern, which, as touched on above, impacted on the ways in which this research was undertaken.…”

Grim Realities of a Doctoral Student in Aotearoa

“…Some supervisors do not allow their students to participate in these activities to bring focus back to the PhD itself, but this is unfair to students who need the additional money to fund their studies or wish to build teaching skills. These students will often have to find employment elsewhere, where supervisor approval is not required, although most scholarship regulations only allow up to 10 hours paid work outside of the full time research work (Soar et al, 2022).…”

“…Figure 4: The value of PhD, Masters and Summer scholarships compared to the minimum wage at each university from 2000 to 2020.Taken fromSoar et al (2022) …”

Strong and Resilient Research System is Built by Valuing People

“…The average pay from PhD scholarships is below minimum wage. The time it takes to do the work necessary for a PhD is often longer than the three-year scholarships (Soar et al, 2022). Too often they receive no pay during the time between the end of the scholarship and completing their research.…”