Engaging Indigenous Australian students: the I-Place Ecology Tool

This Australian case study outlines a project that explored how and why place influences the engagement of Indigenous university students. Uplifting Indigenous student engagement is a long-standing sector priority, with Australian universities seeking to create culturally secure ‘university places’ where Indigenous students can be, become and belong. Two regional universities participated in this project, each providing baseline data about their engagement with Indigenous students. Qualitative data was collected from Indigenous students, academic teaching staff and professional staff, and quantitative survey data was garnered from Indigenous students and academic teaching staff at both universities. Insights from the data resulted in the I-Place Ecology Tool. The tool is a holistic, ‘web-of-life’ perspective of the interconnectivity and co-evolution processes that trace Australian Indigenous student engagement. The tool can help to mature and uplift universities’ Indigenous agendas by providing a bird’s-eye view of many elements that shape Indigenous student engagement.