Project purpose: The importance of producing more Māori doctoral and other postgraduate qualification completions, for Māoridom and New Zealand society generally is well understood – Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga set specific goals towards it, the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative and Ako Aotearoa have funded research about it, and the Tertiary Education Commission provides equity weighting to encourage it amongst Tertiary Education Organisations. Despite this interest and support, there are still no clear, easily accessible guidelines for supervising Māori postgraduate students for Māori and non-Māori supervisors to draw on. The purpose of this project is to synthesise existing research and gather additional data about the experiences of Māori postgraduate students at Victoria University of Wellington to produce a set of research-based good practice guidelines to be used by Māori and non-Māori supervisors of Māori postgraduate students.

The programme of work to be carried out

1. Co-ordinate hui with Māori academic supervisors to identify their common supervision needs, goals and issues
2. Complete a literature review of existing research about Māori postgraduate student experiences of supervision
3. Gather data about Māori postgraduate student enrolments and completions
4. Consult with Māori and Postgraduate Student Associations about feedback they receive from Māori students about their supervisory experience
5. Co-write a set of good-practice guidelines for supervisors of Māori postgraduate students.

Day to day nature of the work
Mostly office-based with occasional outings to attend meetings and hui. Daily office based activities include:

1. Conducting online literature searches for relevant data
2. Contacting relevant student and academic groups for information about Māori postgraduate study experiences
3. Meeting with the Senior Researcher to discuss data
4. Arranging hui with Māori academic supervisors
5. Drafting a review of key literature, noting points of relevance for current project and areas for further research
6. Participating in training as necessary, for example attendance at Endnote, NVivo or other research-related workshops.

Skills the student will learn

1. Information gathering (online and in person)
2. Literature reviewing
3. Academic writing
4. Time management
5. How to use selected research software, such as Endnote or NVivo
6. Written and verbal communication skills.