Māori and Pacific Early Career Academic Programme

02 Sep, 2017
 
Māori and Pacific Early Career Academic Programme

A new generation of Māori and Pacific lecturers is taking up residence at Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

The 2018 Early Career Academic Programme offers up to six Māori and Pacific scholars their first, full-time, permanent appointments as research-active lecturers.

It also provides a dedicated support network to help new academics develop their skills in teaching, research, academic supervision and graduate mentoring.

The programme was established with the support of the Vice-Chancellor in 2015.

In two years, it has seen 10 Māori and Pacific scholars launch their academic careers at AUT.

AUT Vice-Chancellor, Derek McCormack, says: “We are determined to increase the participation and success of Māori and Pacific academics and students in all of our disciplines.”

Early career academics contribute to teaching programmes in their respective departments and support Māori and Pacific student achievement. They play an important role as change agents by incorporating cultural values and perspectives in their teaching and research.

Nimbus Staniland was appointed as a lecturer in Management at AUT Business School this year.

“I’m using te reo in my classes, drawing on Māori perspectives in my teaching and trying to illustrate that there are different ways of conducting business and managing people,” says Staniland. 

Dr Radilaite Cammock, a lecturer in Public Health at South Campus, also joined AUT in early-2017. 

“Having Pacific academics at the forefront of research connects the work that we do with the people who we’re talking about. We need everything we’re doing to be more visible. And, if we have more Pacific academics on board, then it’s possible,” says Cammock.

Increasing the number of Māori and Pacific academics remains a challenge. New Zealand universities employ more than 10,000 academics, but only five percent are Māori and two percent are Pacific.

The problem stems from secondary school, where only 33 percent of Māori students and 43 percent of Pacific students achieve a NCEA Level 3 qualification or above.

Megan Phillips, a lecturer in Marketing, Advertising, Retail & Sales at AUT Business Schools, says Māori and Pacific advancement is all about the students, and making sure that they succeed.

“If we can get more students into degrees and postgraduate studies, then we can get more of them into academic roles,” says Phillips.

Apply now for the 2018 Early Career Academic Programme.

Learn about the AUT Early Career Academic Programme here.

Māori lecturers talk about the AUT Early Career Academic Programme here.

Pacific lecturers talk about the AUT Early Career Academic Programme here.



2018 Early Career Academic Programme
AUT is currently considering six appointments across the following subject areas – Communication Studies, Language & Culture, Hospitality & Tourism, Counselling & Psychotherapy, Psychology, Interprofessional Health Studies, Sport & Recreation, and Information Technology & Software Engineering.

To be eligible, this must be your first, full-time, academic teaching position at a university. You should have completed your PhD or submitted the thesis for examination by 31 December 2017.

Preference will be given to those who identify as Māori and/or Pacific, and can demonstrate a commitment to the advancement of Māori and Pacific youth.

The successful candidates will step into their new roles in early-2018.

Applications close on Friday, 22 September 2017.