Indigenous peoples as objects versus subjects in institutional policies across 501 universities and 85 countries

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 12: Expansion of Higher Education

Abstract

Higher education institutions have played a critical role in systems of colonization, historically enacting Indigenous genocide and assimilation while legitimizing knowledge that justified land dispossession. Today, universities continue to reflect these histories as racialized and colonial institutions, structuring resources and power along racialized lines. At the same time, Indigenous communities have strategically leveraged global human rights frameworks to institutionalize their collective sovereignties within national and international governance structures. Against this backdrop, this study examines (1) the extent to which universities across the globe incorporate structures and policies for Indigenous groups and (2) the institutional and country-level mechanisms that predict these structures.

This study brings together theoretical frameworks of global neoinstitutionalism and postcolonial sociology to analyze Indigenous-supportive structures in higher education. While neoinstitutionalism highlights the global diffusion of human rights norms and their symbolic adoption by institutions, postcolonial sociology emphasizes the persistent structures of imperialism and Indigenous agency in resisting colonial legacies. Using a cross-national dataset of 501 universities across 85 countries, I analyze five types of Indigenous-supportive structures, which I categorize into two broad frameworks: those that position Indigenous groups as objects of study and those that recognize Indigenous peoples as participatory subjects in higher education.

Findings reveal that national policy commitments, disciplinary orientations, and globalized norms shape whether universities adopt Indigenous-supportive structures. Theoretically, this study advances our understanding of the sociology of higher education by examining how historical and transnational systems of imperialism and human rights shape institutional behavior. Empirically, it identifies context-specific variations in higher education structures and policies, illustrating how colonial legacies continue to inform universities’ relationships with Indigenous groups. Finally, this study offers practical insights for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand the global landscape of policies and structures for Indigenous groups in higher education.

Author

• Hannah K D'Apice, Stanford University