Negotiating Scripts for Indigenous Futures in Higher Education: Examining some of the impacts of a university outreach program

According to Behrendt (2012), Indigenous people remain ‘significantly underrepresented in the higher education system’ even while there is evidence to suggest that Indigenous students are ‘increasingly aspiring to get an education, go to university and take up professional and leadership positions’. The Indigenous Academic Enrichment Program (IAEP) is a three year program (originally two years) designed to enhance the academic attainment of a group of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, particularly those of low SES backgrounds, through The University of Melbourne’s engagement with them, their teachers and their schools. Through facilitating continuous support and engagement between students, teachers and the University, the on-going component of the program provided a framework for meeting the overall goal, which was to build the capacity of students to meet the demands of university entrance and improve their possibility of success once at university. The IAEP provided a residential program (July winter camp) for a small group of students and their teachers from each of six schools as well as an in-school program to assist teachers in supporting students. This paper outlines the IAEP from its inception to its completion in October 2016. In particular, it examines the role that on-going research played in the development of the program and its impact on Indigenous student outcomes in relation to the program’s three aims which were intended to support the overarching goal of university entrance, and success. While many of the participating students have indicated a desire to attend university and are working towards doing so, a number have said the experience has confirmed that university is not for them. Questions, therefore, arise as to the relative success of such a program if it is judged solely against its initial goal of increasing Indigenous representation in universities. Using the DEMO framework as a tool to examine the IAEP, and research data from interviews, questionnaires, and on-demand testing results from schools, this paper highlights a range of strengths and limitations of such an ambitious and multi-faceted program. It also calls into question the narrow focus and goals of current outreach programs. If university outreach programs assist in keeping Indigenous students at schools, supporting them academically and assisting them in attaining employment or further study in the non-university sector, can universities still be justified in running them? We argue that the significant impact arising from a research-driven program such as the IAEP supports the case for university outreach programs with multiple and diverse goals.