Maria Raciti

In Australian higher education, equity is often measured through population parity—the idea that when enrolment numbers for a group reflect their proportion in the general population, equity has been achieved. But what happens when parity is achieved and equity status revoked? What if those numbers plateau or even decline, and the group quietly disappears from policy focus? This has happened to culturally and linguistically diverse doctoral candidates in the 2016 Australian Council of Learned Academies’ (ACOLA) Report on Australian doctoral education. 

In this episode of Marketing for Good, we speak with Professor Maria Raciti, Co-Director of the Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre and Professor of Marketing at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Maria shares her journey into academia and social marketing, and dives deep into various themes including:

- Pockets of brilliance and Indigenous excellence
- Empowerment through authentic co-design
- Balancing purpose with commerciality.

This conversation is rich with insights on how strengths-based narratives, cultural integrity, and structural change can drive more inclusive, impactful work in marketing and beyond.

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.

Australian Indigenous businesses are growing fast, and not just at home. A small but determined group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander entrepreneurs is leading the way onto the world stage. While they face steep challenges, the global appetite for authentic, ethical, and culturally grounded products presents a unique opportunity for expansion. So, what will it take to grow Indigenous businesses beyond our borders?

Indigenous businesses in Australia are a powerful force—close to 14,000 strong, contributing $16 billion annually to the economy and creating meaningful employment for over 116,000 people. This growth reflects strength, innovation, and deep cultural foundations.

Yet mainstream definitions of occupational wellbeing have not kept pace. Too often, wellbeing is measured through Western lenses—focusing on individual performance, job satisfaction, and safety—without recognising the rich, interconnected understandings of wellbeing held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

There’s been a lot of talk about Indigenous futures lately, particularly faraway futures beyond the immediate time horizon. Indigenous futurism has been described as a form of activism that dismisses the idea of a still-colonised future, unsettling settlers by breaking free of colonial conditioning and refusing to be frozen in time. When asked to forecast the life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in 2050, most of us are lost for words—this silence is telling, this silence is troubling, and this silence needs examining.

Educational inequality is a wicked problem in Australia and abroad. This inequality is particularly prevalent with regional and remote (RR) university students, who are underrepresented in higher education. The Australian government formally identifies RR students as an equity group due to the complex challenges they face in their transition to university, resulting in them being less likely to access and succeed in university studies. The transition from high school to university can be a daunting experience for many students, especially for those from RR backgrounds, as they attempt to reconcile their preconceived expectations with the realities of higher education.