Please join us in congratulating Robert Mahikwa who successfully defended his PhD Dissertation on September 15 of 2025.
Title:
Mentoring Indigenous Graduate Students into Indigenous Scholars
Abstract:
This study provides an in-depth and comprehensive review of Indigenous worldviews (theories), knowledges (perspectives), traditions (approaches), and protocols (ethics) that inform culturally attuned Indigenous graduate mentorship. Many Indigenous graduate students seeking to become Indigenous scholars are needing faculty who can provide culturally attuned mentorship as their supervisor and mentor. However, far too few Indigenous (or non-Indigenous faculty) carry the appropriate expertise to meet these needs. In turn, most Indigenous graduate students complete their programs with little (if any) cultural connections or integration along the way. The overarching inquiry of this study is “What is culturally attuned Indigenous graduate mentorship?”. To achieve its research aims, this study utilized the conversational method as part of its own culturally attuned Indigenous research methodological paradigm. Per its methods, 13 full-tenured Indigenous faculty who have experience with mentoring Indigenous graduate students in culturally attuned ways as their thesis or dissertation supervisor in British Columbia, where this study was conducted, were interviewed. Data analysis in this study was also culturally attuned to help ensure that the subsequent findings would themselves be culturally attuned. In the end, nine thematic bundles where identified from these finding, as follows: terminology and meanings; general distinctions; conceptual frameworks; mentor archetypes; five R’s; pragmatic approaches; barriers and obstacles; role of non-Indigenous faculty Allies; and online technologies. Thereafter, a series of in-depth discussions and recommendations are also provided, followed by an acknowledgement of the limitations of this study, and areas for future research opportunities. Finally, in the spirit of reciprocity, a cultural gift was offered to each of the research participant, as well as the Elders who helped informed this work, for their invaluable contributions to this study.
Chair of Examination Committee:
Dr. Nicol Cynthia, Curriculum Studies
University Examiners:
Dr. Daniel Heath Justice, Department of English
Dr. Janice Forsyth, Kinesiology
External Examiner:
Dr. Graham Hingangaroa Smith, Massey University (New Zealand)
Supervisory Committee:
Dr. Margaret Kovach, Supervisor
Dr. Dustin Louie, Member
Dr. Jan Hare, Member
Congratulations Robert!