There has been a steady decline in the number of Indigenous people pursuing and achieving PhD degrees in the U.S. In 2021, barely 0.3% of the 31,674 students in the United States who were conferred PhDs were American Indian or Alaska Native, as there has been lack of support for the advancement of Indigenous students to doctoral-level study. This…

The experiences of Indigenous graduate students in higher education are underrecognized in research and scholarship. Similarly, the experiences of Indigenous students, undergraduate or graduate, within Native American Serving NonTribal Institutions (NASNTIs) are largely excluded from research and scholarship. Although NASNTI designation is only…

This study addressed Native American students' perceptions of their educational experiences, 142 years after the first federally-run, off-reservation Indian Boarding School opened, and their perceptions of how university staff, faculty, and administrators could better serve Native students. Qualitative interviews were conducted with five Native…

We are going to run a marathon, together. No matter your fitness level or ability, we will start and finish the race, together. NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND. Together, we are preparing, participating in, and completing a marathon, which is 26.2 miles in distance. Our marathon includes many stories from Indigenous people that transcend time, space, and…

Native women in higher education have faced many challenges and disparities, specifically within 4-year institutions. This research used a qualitative method known as storytelling to identify ways of progression for Native women in higher education leadership while being supported by the theoretical framework of aspirational capital. Additionally,…

What are modern-day educational experiences like for Native American students who are moving through a system rooted in racism and the extermination of their culture? One would hope that they now have safe, inclusive spaces where all students feel welcome and respected; where they can navigate their educational journeys successfully. Rather than…

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how family, tribal, and on-campus cultural-specific support can lead to higher educational and cultural outcomes for Native American college students through the lens of transculturation. To address the lack of quantitative empirical research on what it means to self-identify as Native American and thrive…

This dissertation investigates the availability of higher educational opportunities in the Santa Clara Valley for mixed blood American Indian males in the Santa Clara Valley from lower middle class and middle-class backgrounds born between the early 1980's and early 1990's who enrolled in community college courses but did not graduate. The study…

We examine culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy (CRP) and its extensions--culturally based and culturally sustaining and revitalizing pedagogy--focusing on Native American/Indigenous education. Teasing out the roots of these pedagogies in Indigenous education systems, we follow their "footprints" in contemporary education practices.…

Academia has been dominated by European/settler ways of knowing while denying the existence and validity of Indigenous epistemologies, science, and philosophies. Post-secondary structures were not built to be inclusive spaces, they were built without Indigenous voices or considerations and often housed individuals and departments who have…

This article explores the diverse epistemic perspectives on intelligence, tracing its conceptual evolution across early Indian philosophy, Western philosophical thought and contemporary computational theories. Intelligence is examined as a dynamic, multifaceted phenomenon that transcends mere cognition, extending into embodied, ecological and…

All people deserve the opportunity to earn a better living and build a better life for themselves, their families, and their communities through a postsecondary education. But that opportunity is not available equally to all in the United States, and current postsecondary data sets and collection practices at the federal, state, and institutional…

Since the late 1960s, the fields of indigenous and environmental history have boomed. In the United States these large, nuanced, and often-overlapping historiographies have provided college educators with enormous scope to re-evaluate the past and contextualize contemporary political and social issues related to Native peoples and the environment.…

The goal of this case study is to shed light on how some NASNTIs have succeeded in eliminating gaps in graduation outcomes between AI/AN students and other student groups. It builds on emerging scholarship and policy analysis -- much of which has been pursued by Native American scholars -- that seek solutions to the persistent disparities in…

This contribution focuses on the experience of an emerging scholar practitioner within higher education who also identifies as an Indian international doctoral student. By using a scholarly personal narrative, the author has described their life experiences and negotiations as a part of their study abroad journey from India to the United States.…