Tales from the trenches: The barriers to and facilitators of decolonizing doctoral research in psychology departments of Aotearoa

Abstract

The colonization and marginalization of Indigenous peoples, their worldviews, epistemologies, and pedagogies are long-standing, and Indigenous peoples maintain the unending struggle for decolonization. Universities are complicit in colonialism by perpetuating Whiteness and maintaining a power imbalance. The issue is multiplied for Indigenous doctoral researchers who enact their research from the margins. In this study, six Māori and one Pākehā (non-Māori New Zealander) ally, who are current or recently completed doctoral candidates in psychology, describe barriers and facilitators to decolonizing doctoral research within universities of Aotearoa New Zealand. We use collaborative autoethnography and Kaupapa Māori methods such as wānanga and pūrākau to collect and analyze our data and then present advice for current and future doctoral researchers to navigate these turbulent waters. We then present four personifications of decolonization to exemplify the various ways doctoral candidates can decolonize their research. They are illustrated as Māia-the activist; Tohu-the indigeniser; Kura-the subtle influencer, and Tui-the connector. Decolonization should not be resigned to academic theory, and in the present study, we demonstrate decolonization in practice. We hope that this research continues to lead to active decolonization by not only generating further discussion but also leading to meaningful change. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).