The Indigenization of universities and colleges has become a key focus of discussion on many campuses in recent months. This follows on the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that called on post-secondary institutions to play a leading role to support Aboriginal languages and culture as part of a broader effort to heal the damages of past wrongs.
The challenge, however, is that Indigenization of the academy remains an often murky and even contested concept. What does it mean in concrete terms for academic staff associations and their members?
For Mi’kmaw scholar Marie Battiste, there is a critical role for academic staff associations to play in promoting Indigenization by negotiating ways to include more Aboriginal faculty in universities and colleges.
“The numbers of Aboriginal faculty across Canada is minimal compared to women and other racialized minorities,” says Battiste. “The University of Saskatchewan, for instance, set out more than 15 years ago to hire Aboriginal people to match the population in our province, then at 13 per cent. Today the numbers are less than 1 per cent.” [...]
Read the full story in CAUT/ACPPU Bulletin.
