Honoring Indigenous Male Professors’ Stories: Looking Into Their Journeys Within Higher Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 4:20 pm Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Indigenous Experiences Across Educational Contexts (Table 5)

Abstract

This study highlights the stories of Indigenous male professors in higher education. It explores how they perceive and define success and aims to create a model from their shared experiences. Employing an Indigenous methodological approach, the study used Sharing Circles and individual interviews, analyzed through Kovach’s thematic analysis and Tribal Critical Race Theory. Fifteen Native men, from assistant to full professors, participated and had expertise in environmental justice, educational leadership, pharmacy, and more. The findings revealed five main themes: support received, challenges endured, definitions of success, perceptions of masculinity, and sustaining factors. The study underscores the need to expand Indigenous success perspectives, enhance support for Native faculty, and improve cultural competence in higher education institutions.

Author

• James David Wagnon, University of Oklahoma