Introduction: Across Aotearoa (New Zealand), there are chronic shortages of qualified Māori (Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa) health practitioners and systemic ethnic health inequities. This study, focussing on the discipline of occupational therapy, explores Māori graduates' recollections of the institutional barriers that impacted on their study in this field over a 25-year period.
Methods: This qualitative study interviewed seven Māori occupational therapy graduates using pūrākau-an innovative Māori narrative inquiry method. Pūrākau (stories) were collected in 2018 via kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) semi-structured interviews. They were analysed using the kaupapa Māori (Māori philosophical) framework of Pū-Rā-Ka-Ū which draws on traditional Māori mātauranga (knowledge).
Findings: The institutional barriers identified were (1) cultural dissonance, (2) cultural (in)competency and (3) the limitations of (Western) pastoral care.
Conclusion: This study highlighted how racism is embedded within the Western tertiary education system. To create a safe learning environment for Māori students, tertiary education institutions require a planned approach to address racism within policy, procedures, the curriculum, teaching and professional staff.
Keywords: Māori students; cultural competence; education; health inequities; institutional racism; qualitative research.
© 2022 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Occupational Therapy Australia.