Study Results from University of Waikato Broaden Understanding of Psychology and Psychiatry (Tales From the Trenches: the Barriers To and Facilitators of Decolonizing Doctoral Research In Psychology Departments of Aotearoa).

This article focuses on research examining the barriers and facilitators to decolonizing doctoral research in psychology departments within universities of Aotearoa New Zealand. The study, involving six Māori and one Pākehā doctoral candidates, uses collaborative autoethnography and Kaupapa Māori methods to explore how Indigenous researchers navigate colonial structures in academia. It identifies four personifications of decolonization—Maia (the activist), Tohu (the indigeniser), Kura (the subtle influencer), and Tui (the connector)—to illustrate diverse approaches to decolonizing research in practice. Funded by the University of Canterbury and University of Waikato, the peer-reviewed research aims to promote active decolonization beyond theory toward meaningful institutional change. [Extracted from the article]