About this research
Summary
Māori doctoral scholars often face significant challenges in universities dominated by Western academic traditions. These environments can clash with Māori cultural values and needs, reflecting colonial legacies that marginalise Indigenous knowledge and methodologies. To address these challenges, the Te Kupenga o MAI (MAI) programme was created in the late 1990s by Professor Graham Smith. This initiative supports Māori and Indigenous PhD students across Aotearoa New Zealand, providing mentorship, resources, and community connections grounded in Māori cultural values. MAI helps reduce isolation and creates culturally safe spaces for Māori scholars to succeed academically while maintaining their cultural identity.
This research focuses on understanding the long-term impact of the MAI programme by examining the experiences of recent Māori PhD graduates. It aims to explore their motivations, challenges, and the role MAI played in supporting them, as well as their career pathways and contributions to their communities after completing their studies. The findings will inform future efforts to support Māori doctoral scholars, ensuring they thrive in academia and contribute meaningfully to their whānau, hapū, iwi, and society.
Objectives
- To document MAI scholars situational background, motivations for pursuing a PhD, and challenges faced during their doctoral journey.
- To examine the role of MAI in supporting MAI scholars during their PhD journey, including the resources and professional development opportunities provided.
- To explore the career pathways, transitions, and contributions of MAI scholars, and how their PhD experience has influenced their professional and personal lives.
- To understand the spectrum of challenges faced by MAI scholars during their studies and the support systems that contributed to their success.
More information in the project’s website Project 2 Tahatū-o-te-rangi | Mai Promising Future
Lead Researchers
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora and Dr Tania Cliffe-Tautari - The University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Research Team
Associate Professor Deborah Heke, Ngā Puhi, Te Arawa, Unitec, Te Whare Wānanga o Wairaka
Associate Professor Hinekura Smith, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, The University of Queensland
Dr Tim West-Newman, The University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Publications and media
Nikora, L. W. (Chair), Theodore, M., Naepi, S., & Kokaua, J. (Panelists). (2025, July 16). Ngā Pae o te [SG1] Māramatanga: Lifeworlds beyond the degree [Online webinar]. Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. https://vimeo.com/1104282635?fl=pl&fe=ti
Manathunga, C., Raciti, M., Smith, H., Qi, J., Keane, M., Motala, S., Msimango, S., & van der Westhuizen, G. (2025). Indigenous doctoral education policies in the Global South: Postcolonial policy borrowing in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Higher Education Policy. [SG2] https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-025-00422-2
Māori doctoral scholars often face significant challenges in universities dominated by Western academic traditions. These environments can clash with Māori cultural values and needs, reflecting colonial legacies that marginalise Indigenous knowledge and methodologies. To address these challenges, the Te Kupenga o MAI (MAI) programme was created in the late 1990s by Professor Graham Smith. This initiative supports Māori and Indigenous PhD students across Aotearoa New Zealand, providing mentorship, resources, and community connections grounded in Māori cultural values. MAI helps reduce isolation and creates culturally safe spaces for Māori scholars to succeed academically while maintaining their cultural identity.
This research focuses on understanding the long-term impact of the MAI programme by examining the experiences of recent Māori PhD graduates. It aims to explore their motivations, challenges, and the role MAI played in supporting them, as well as their career pathways and contributions to their communities after completing their studies. The findings will inform future efforts to support Māori doctoral scholars, ensuring they thrive in academia and contribute meaningfully to their whānau, hapū, iwi, and society.
Kairangahau · Researchers
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Tūhoe
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Linda Waimarie Nikora is co-director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and a Professor of Indigenous Studies at Te Wānanga o…
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Associate Professor Deborah Heke
Ngā Puhi, Te Arawa
Te Whare Wananga o Wairaka Unitec
Associate Professor Deborah Heke (Ngā Puhi, Te Arawa) is the Director of Ngā Wai a Te Tūī Māori and Indigenous Research…
Associate Professor Deborah Heke
Associate Professor Hinekura Smith
Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi
Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland
Dr Hinekura Smith (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) is NPM's Emerging Researchers’ Leader, providing further national leadership and…
Associate Professor Hinekura Smith
Dr Tim West-Newman
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga
Tim West-Newman develops and implements technical business solutions including websites for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga…
Dr Tim West-Newman
Ētahi atu · Other projects
This nationwide research programme set out to deepen our understanding of the experiences, challenges, and contributions of Māori PhD graduates across Aotearoa. By tracing the post-graduation journeys of nearly 800 Māori doctoral scholars, the study aimed to highlight their intellectual, cultural, social and economic impact—within whānau, hapū, iwi and…
View projectPromising Futures Te Kawau Mārō: The Lifeworlds of highly qualified Māori - a cohort study of Māori PhD students and graduates
This nationwide research programme set out to deepen our understanding of the experiences, challenges, and contributions of Māori PhD graduates across Aotearoa. By tracing the post-graduation journeys of nearly 800 Māori doctoral scholars, the study aimed to highlight their intellectual, cultural, social and economic impact—within whānau, hapū, iwi and beyond.
Although the programme has since been disestablished, its kaupapa remains vital: to inform new models of Māori leadership and participation across academia, government, iwi development, and civil society.
Kairangahau · Researchers
-
Professor Joanna Kidman
Professor Joanna Kidman
Joanna is a sociologist with affiliations to Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Raukawa. Her work spans indigenous sociology, Māori youth, higher education, decolonization studies and comparative education. She is especially interested in the interplay of power relations between different groups of people. Joanna is working on two Marsden projects: He Taonga te Wareware: Remembering and Forgetting New Zealand’s Colonial Past investigates how New Zealanders selectively remember and forget difficult and violent events from our colonial past; and What Inspires and Sustains Young People's Engagement in… -
Associate Professor Reremoana Theodore
Associate Professor Reremoana Theodore
Research Associate Professor Reremoana (Moana) Theodore is the Co-Director of the National Centre for Lifecourse Research (NCLR), and a member of the Royal Society Te Apārangi Council. Moana is an inaugural HRC Māori Health Research Emerging Leader Fellow. She is an Investigator on the Graduate Longitudinal Study NZ (GLSNZ) and Te Kura Mai i Tawhiti – a Māori community research programme. She is a Co-Investigator on the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study and an Associate Investigator in Brain Research New Zealand. Moana is a member of the University of Otago Te Poutama… -
Associate Professor Hinekura Smith
Associate Professor Hinekura Smith
Dr Hinekura Smith (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) is NPM's Emerging Researchers’ Leader, providing further national leadership and coordination of MAI Te Kupenga and developing and nurturing initiatives that contribute to the outcomes and objectives of NPM’s Capability and Capacity Strategy. Hinekura was initially a secondary school te reo Māori teacher then moved into teacher education research almost 10 years ago, when she commenced her postgraduate studies. She has worked as a professional development facilitator in Māori medium schools, te reo Māori facilitator in English-medium schools and a… -
Dr Tara McAllister
Dr Tara McAllister
-
Dr Sereana Naepi
Dr Sereana Naepi
Tangi is the ultimate form of Māori cultural and community expression. Addressing the dearth of scholarly information, this study considers tangi practice, whakapapa, changing environments, community values, sharing knowledge, ritual and what it means to be Māori. The research team has been examining the life-values, beliefs and practices related to…
View projectAituā: Death in a changing Māori World
Kairangahau · Researchers
-
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Linda Waimarie Nikora is co-director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and a Professor of Indigenous Studies at Te Wānanga o Waipapa, the University of Auckland. She was previously Professor of Psychology and Director of the Maori & Psychology Research Unit at the University of Waikato. Her specialities are in in community psychology, applied social psychology, ethnopsychology and Maori development. Professor Nikora has a celebrated research and academic career, working in community, social and indigenous psychologies, with a specific focus on Māori wellbeing and self-determination. Her research in…
We are now 30+ years on from when our children first had the opportunity to attend Kōhanga. They are a part of a fortunate generation, like those who will follow them. And so too are those that are following. But what of those older Māori, their parents and grandparents, some of who do speak te reo but many who do not? What challenges to tikanga, age…
View projectChallenges and continuities: Unintended impacts of Te Reo Māori language revitalisation efforts
We are now 30+ years on from when our children first had the opportunity to attend Kōhanga. They are a part of a fortunate generation, like those who will follow them. And so too are those that are following. But what of those older Māori, their parents and grandparents, some of who do speak te reo but many who do not? What challenges to tikanga, age related roles and relationships do these demographics present? Status, mana, roles, responsibilities, ritual duties and leadership are all age related concepts that, in the Māori world, assume a foundation of learning that leads to experience, competence and accumulated wisdom over time.
Kairangahau · Researchers
-
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Professor Linda Waimarie Nikora FRSNZ, HFNZPS
Linda Waimarie Nikora is co-director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga and a Professor of Indigenous Studies at Te Wānanga o Waipapa, the University of Auckland. She was previously Professor of Psychology and Director of the Maori & Psychology Research Unit at the University of Waikato. Her specialities are in in community psychology, applied social psychology, ethnopsychology and Maori development. Professor Nikora has a celebrated research and academic career, working in community, social and indigenous psychologies, with a specific focus on Māori wellbeing and self-determination. Her research in… -
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku MNZM FAWMM
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia Te Awekotuku MNZM FAWMM
Emeritus Professor Ngahuia te Awekotuku continues to contribute in the arts and creative sector. With degrees in Art History and English, her PhD (1981) was in cultural psychology. She wrote an early (1991) monograph on Maori research ethics. For decades she served in the heritage environment as a governor, curator and activist/advocate. Her scholarly works on culture, gender, heritage and sexuality, and her fiction and poetry, have been published and acclaimed locally and internationally. -
Professor Waikaremoana Waitoki
Professor Waikaremoana Waitoki
Waikaremoana is a Professor and Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. She is a clinical psychologist with experience in adolescent and maternal mental health. She is a past president of the New Zealand Psychological Society, and inaugural co-chair of the Māori psychologist’s network, He Paiaka Totara. She is the co-editor of the first Indigenous psychology book, Te Manu Kai i te Mātauranga which is used nationally and internationally in teaching about monoculturalism and racism in psychology. She is also the co-editor…