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.

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“…The neoliberalisation of universities places significant emphasis on efficiency both of time and of finances, and encourages privatisation, competition, and self-reliance (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.…”

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“…In Aotearoa New Zealand, the Crown, a key research system policy maker and funder, has obligations of equal partnership with Māori under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Despite these expectations and impassioned commitments from government and research organisations towards ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’, inequities around participation remain rife within the research sector (Soar et al, 2021), where there are proportionally many fewer non‐white, non‐middle class and non‐men employed, or in training. Despite policies such as the 2005 Vision Mātauranga statement or MBIE's 2008 Diversity in Science Statement highlighting a ‘focus and ambition for diversity in science’ (McAllister & Riva, 2022, p. 1), equity, diversity and inclusion for many marginalised groups in the research sector are not seen to be improving, or at best are only improving incrementally.…”