Samoan women in tertiary education and ethnic identity

Abstract

Does participation in tertiary education in Aotearoa New Zealand weaken or strengthen Samoan ethnic identity? Narratives of Pacific women graduates interviewed for a doctoral study of ethnic identity construction provide illustrations of how a process of ethnic identity formation is built up through interactions between groups and individuals within institutions where all members of society participate and come into contact with each other. Ethnic identity construction is influenced by both circumstantial situational factors and what people themselves bring into those circumstances (Cornell & Hartmann, 1998). The cultural backgrounds of this group of tertiary students are socially constructed within their families and churches. It is these backgrounds they bring with them into tertiary education contexts. The strengthening of ethnic identity, as experienced by this group of Samoan women graduate students, was unique, complex and at times contradictory.

Citation

Mara, D. (2014), "Samoan women in tertiary education and ethnic identity", Māori and Pasifika Higher Education Horizons (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 15), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 271-290. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420140000015021