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November 13, 2024
Māori Academic champions rangatahi in higher education
Atereano Mateariki
Posted On November 13, 2024
Download AudioA Māori youth health professor hopes her journey in scholarship inspires more Māori rangatahi to pursue higher education.
Last week, Professor Terryann Clark, of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, and Ngāti Whātua ki Kaipara descent, delivered her inaugural professorial lecture at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.
Census 2023 data shows that only 14 percent of Māori hold a tertiary qualification as their highest educational attainment, compared to 20 percent of all New Zealanders.
Clark says her lecture was motivated by the fact that only two Māori currently hold positions within the faculty, underscoring the need for more Māori representation in academia.
Attending the Whangārei portion of the Toitu Te Tiriti protest yesterday was inspiring, as Māori youth showed their ambition to exceed societal expectations.
“I want to capture that. How do we support our young people to be energized, to be proud, to be strong, to operate in this world that is really difficult at the moment,” says Clark.
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