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1 – 10 of 154Stacey Kim Coates, Michelle Trudgett and Susan Page
Senior Indigenous leadership positions across the Australian higher education sector has increased over the past decade. Despite this advancement, there is limited understanding…
Abstract
Purpose
Senior Indigenous leadership positions across the Australian higher education sector has increased over the past decade. Despite this advancement, there is limited understanding in terms of how to best integrate Indigenous leadership into existing governance structures of Australian universities. In 2018 the Walan Mayiny: Indigenous Leadership in Higher Education project commenced, aimed at establishing a model of best practice for the inclusivity of Indigenous leadership in higher education governance structures. This article presents key findings from the project, namely, a model of senior Indigenous leadership within the Australian universities based on the perceptions of a group of Indigenous academics.
Design/methodology/approach
Through qualitative semi-structured interviews with Indigenous academic staff, the perceived value, characteristics and challenges of senior Indigenous leadership were examined. The varying opinions held by Indigenous academics in relation to the qualifications and experience required to fulfil a senior Indigenous leadership position were also highlighted. In doing so, a model of senior Indigenous leadership within the Australian higher education system is presented. The model of best practice presented in this article is underpinned by Indigenous Institutional Theory (Coates et al., 2022), a theoretical framework developed from the Walan Mayiny study.
Findings
The research findings highlight the diverse opinions of Indigenous academics in relation to the qualifications and experience required to fulfil a senior Indigenous leadership position. The six essential components are built upon the core characteristics, values and behaviours that senior Indigenous leaders need to have according to Indigenous academics, in order to advance Indigenous success within the academy.
Originality/value
Given Australian universities are being called upon to ensure that senior Indigenous leaders are in the best position possible to forge institutional change, senior Indigenous leaders within the academy may find the contextual Indigenous leadership model beneficial. The model allows one to uphold cultural integrity and fulfil the responsibilities and obligations of their higher education institution, while being able to serve their Indigenous colleagues and communities, leading to the advancement of Indigenous higher education outcomes. Importantly, the model can be adapted to suit all First Nations Peoples globally, who also find themselves working within the shackles of Western institutions.
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Adriana Marotti de Mello, Joyce Mdiniso, Morgan Ndlovu and Felix Kwabena Donkor
Chen Chen and Timothy Kellison
This paper aims to explore what environmental justice (EJ) can offer to sport management research and highlights the urgency for sport management scholars interested in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore what environmental justice (EJ) can offer to sport management research and highlights the urgency for sport management scholars interested in environmental and ecological issues to engage with EJ as an important research agenda.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is primarily a position and conceptual paper. Drawing from multidisciplinary literature (e.g. critical human geography, environmental sociology, Indigenous studies and postcolonial studies), it provides an overview of the major conceptualizations of EJ and discusses important premises for sport management researchers to engage with EJ topics.
Findings
EJ offers opportunities for sport management researchers to form stronger analyses on existing racial, socio-economic, and gender-related inequities manifest in the sport industry. The incorporation of EJ can strengthen the emerging sport ecology research in sport management and offer opportunities for sport management researchers to form stronger analyses on existing racial, class and gender-related inequities manifest in the sport industry.
Originality/value
It provides a critical and original intervention to the sport management literature. EJ's emphasis on power and its position at the convergence of social movements, public policy, and scholarship hold important potential for sport management researchers to advance scholarship with “actions,” addressing environmental harms and seeking practical solutions for enhancing communities' well-being.
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This perspective article underscores the importance of conducting studies that examine the African philosophy of Ubuntu among indigenous African family businesses. The article…
Abstract
Purpose
This perspective article underscores the importance of conducting studies that examine the African philosophy of Ubuntu among indigenous African family businesses. The article summarises the understanding of the role of Ubuntu in indigenous African family businesses and explores potential pathways for further investigations to understand existing cultural and economic differences that could contribute to family business heterogeneity.
Design/methodology/approach
The article adopts an analytical and interpretative approach to existing literature in family businesses and Ubuntu philosophy. The approach helps to evaluate the role of Ubuntu philosophy in indigenous African family businesses. Ubuntu was chosen for examination in this article because it is a fundamental African value commonly acceptable in Africa.
Findings
The article emphasises the need to deepen the current understanding of the African philosophy of Ubuntu, highlighting the role this philosophy could play in shaping and positioning indigenous African family businesses for long-term success. This perspective article calls for integrating indigenous African philosophies into other knowledge systems to advocate for a better understanding of the institutional structures in indigenous African family businesses. Additionally, as businesses increasingly operate in a global context and more indigenous family businesses enter the formal global economic environments, non-indigenous business stakeholders and practitioners must gain an understanding of a diverse cultural perspective, such as Ubuntu.
Originality/value
This article highlights the importance of African philosophies in understanding business organisations by highlighting the need for family business scholars to investigate the role of Ubuntu in indigenous African family businesses. The perspective article proposes sample research questions and areas for exploring Ubuntu in indigenous African family businesses, which could offer new avenues to understand the cultural and economic differences embedded in indigenous African family business context.
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Shakir Ullah, Usman Khan, Abida Begum, Heesup Han and Abdullah Mohamed
This paper explores the indigenous climate knowledge (ICK) of the Gwadar fishing community in Pakistan. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the accuracy of ICK and how…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the indigenous climate knowledge (ICK) of the Gwadar fishing community in Pakistan. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the accuracy of ICK and how climatic change brings changes to it and the social lives of local fishers.
Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative research methods, including participant observation, in-depth interviews and oral histories, were used to collect the data.
Findings
Finding from this long fieldwork shows that this fishing community has a harmonious relationship with nature and local ecology. Their knowledge of local ecology enables them to have equal access to natural resources, sustainable resource management, disaster risk reduction and strong social organization on the coast of Gwadar. Recently their deep relationship with local ecology and sociocultural organization has been disturbed due to huge climate changes caused by human manipulation of the environment. Their ability to foresee climatic events has been reduced. They are finding it impossible to estimate fish availability due to massive climate changes. Local communities are losing their traditional livelihoods and socioeconomic autonomy as a result of growing climate change. Climatic change adds to the existing poverty situation and increases political instability in the region.
Practical implications
The study suggests using the fishermen’s valuable indigenous knowledge of local ecology, climate and its ties to local traditions, culture and resource management for a scientific understanding of climate change and marine resource management in Gwadar, Pakistan.
Originality/value
This is an ethnographic study based on a long term field work. Fishing community is passing through catastrophic climatic changes in the region. This community has been ignored by both government and researchers to record their problems and bring them to academia and media. Therefore, this study will help them raise their voices.
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