Higher Education Improves Outcomes For Māori And Pacific People

A study has been released showing significant economic and social benefits for Māori and Pacific people who have graduated with a PhD.

Funded by Ngā Pae o te Māramanga (NPM), study authors found that Māori and Pacific graduates had better outcomes than those in their communities without a degree. Graduates were more likely to be employed in professional roles, have higher earnings, and had higher home ownership rates. The authors also compared Māori graduates or Pacific graduates to non-Māori non-Pacific graduates. They found that all three groups had similar economic and social outcomes (e.g., home ownership rates), however, for other indicators (e.g., annual earnings), the outcomes of Māori PhDs were significantly better.

The study highlights the need for the Aotearoa tertiary education system to promote and support behaviours, actions, services and resources to increase the numbers of Māori and Pacific PhD students, says NPM Pou Matarua, Professor Melinda Webber.

“Decreasing barriers for Māori and Pacific to excel at the highest levels of education has the potential to reduce disparities in Aotearoa across a range of areas, and it creates benefits for wider whānau, their communities, and society in general,” she says.

“While we are not saying it is necessary for everyone to go out and get a PhD if you want to live a good life, the study shows that the government needs to continue to support higher education as a way to reduce current societal disparities and support positive Māori and Pacific futures” she says.

“Despite the growth in the number of Māori and Pacific Peoples gaining PhDs, until now, little was known about these students’ longer-term outcomes. This study is important because it provides conclusive evidence that higher education can be transformative for our people and their communities and has ongoing ripple effects for them, according to study co-author, Associate Professor Sereana Naepi.

“Every dollar invested in Māori and Pacific higher education returns exponentially in higher incomes, better health, stronger communities, and reduced inequality – making the case for urgent, sustained investment in education pathways that unlock potential and transform lives across Aotearoa,” she says.

The last two decades has seen substantial increases in both Māori and Pacific peoples participating in higher education. A 2006 study showed only 6.4% of Māori had a degree and in in 2018 that rose to 11.5%. For Pasifika the percentage rose from 5% to 9.5%.

NPMs founding co-Directors Professors Linda Smith and Michael Walker established Te Kupenga o MAI programme in the early 2000s, with the vision of dramatically increasing the number of Māori PhDs. Indigenous people throughout the Pacific take part in the programme, and this new study evidences the transformative benefits of that vision and NPM’s long-term work to support post-graduate researchers.

Download the research here: https://www.maramatanga.ac.nz/node/2280

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