ABSTRACT

While the number of Indigenous people holding senior positions across the Australian higher education sector is steadily increasing, understanding the value and subsequent contribution of senior Indigenous leaders is an area that has not been investigated in significant detail previously. Commencing in 2018, the Walan Mayiny: Indigenous Leadership in Higher Education project set out to examine the roles and responsibilities of senior Indigenous appointments. This article outlines the value of such positions through centring the voices of Indigenous academic staff. More specifically, findings reported in this article pertain to the perceived value, perceived characteristics and the perceived challenges of Indigenous leadership across the sector. Three sets of values are identified by Indigenous academics to be critical to Indigenous leadership: ‘visibility, voice and advocacy’, ‘decision making and action’, and ‘institutional accountability’. In terms of characteristics, Indigenous academics believe senior Indigenous leaders need to be resilient, be committed to the wider Indigenous community and also have the ability to create and communicate a vision. There are a number of key challenges facing senior Indigenous leaders such as the significant scope of the role, racism, and in some cases the value of the role is not understood and considered tokenistic. Through better understanding the nuances associated with these positions, the sector can best serve Indigenous staff and students, as well as the broader academy.

摘要

虽然在澳大利亚高等教育部门担任高级职位的原住民人数正在稳步增加，但了解高级原住民领导人的价值和随后的贡献是一个以前没有进行过详细调查的领域。从 2018 年开始，Walan Mayiny：高等教育中的土著领导力项目着手研究高级土著任命的角色和责任。本文通过集中土著学术人员的声音来概述此类职位的价值。更具体地说，本文报告的发现与感知价值、感知特征和感知挑战有关整个行业的土著领导。土著学者认为三组价值观对土著领导力至关重要：“知名度、发言权和倡导”、“决策制定和行动”以及“机构问责制”。就特征而言，土著学者认为高级土著领导人需要具有韧性，致力于更广泛的土著社区，并有能力创造和传达愿景。高级土著领导人面临许多关键挑战，例如角色的重大范围、种族主义，在某些情况下，角色的价值未被理解并被认为是象征性的。通过更好地了解与这些职位相关的细微差别，该部门可以最好地为土著教职员工和学生以及更广泛的学院服务。