Metamorphoses of the University and the Pathways of Indigenous Students in Quebec: Issues of Accessibility to Studies and Academic Persistence from a Perspective of the Decolonization of Education — A Secondary Publication

Abstract

In connection with the historical context of social segregation and the assimilative aim of formal education imposed on them, the Indigenous Peoples of Québec have long been excluded from higher education. Today, even if their graduation rates are increasing, a persistent gap with the non-Indigenous population is maintained. The data in this article are drawn from 23 interviews with students and university graduates of the First Nations of Québec, as part of a thesis in educational sciences. Our paper analyzes how these students manage to combine the contributions of Indigenous education with those of Western education by developing paths that are part of the decolonization movement of education. Their relationship to Indigenous identity and cultures clearly influences their educational background and is analyzed taking into account power relations with the dominant culture. Our paper emphasizes more particularly the relationship to studies, the adaptation to the student profession, and the balance between studies, work, and family among Indigenous students, in a context of transition from university to multiversity which contributed to the increase of Indigenous university attendance.