Maria Raciti

This project is funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC DP210100647). It focuses on applying Indigenous knowledge approaches (agency of Country; power of stories and iterative, intergenerational and intercultural knowledge production) to Australian doctoral education. This project has generated new knowledge in the area of Indigenous and transcultural (migrant, refugee and international) doctoral education.

In this study, we conducted 105 interviews and collected 41time maps, encompassing a diverse participant group. This included 43 PhD candidates, 57 PhD supervisors, and five with unclear role indications based on the transcripts. The gender distribution was 78 women, 25 men, and two non-binary people. Participants’ ethnic and cultural backgrounds included 23 First Nations participants (including two Torres Strait Islanders), six Anglo-Australians, six Celtic-Australians, three from Oceania, 25 born in Asia and Southeast Asia, eight born in Europe, seven born in Africa, five born in the Middle East, three born in South America, and three born in the Indian subcontinent. Notably, 16 participants did not specify their home country, and the numbers do not fully capture the complexity of transcultural identities among the participants.

Outcomes of the project include policy recommendations for doctoral education, and supervision approaches based on time mapping and life history methodologies that place Indigenous and transcultural knowledges at the forefront of Australian research. This project provides significant benefits to Australian higher education, enabling Australia to become a world leader in global knowledge production.