Towards an enhanced Māori career framework

Abstract

Career research models and frameworks have accumulated an impressive wealth of knowledge about the nature of careers over the past three decades. Yet, few appear to enhance awareness and understanding of the diverse ways in which life-career might be constructed and enacted. Career models are predominantly Eurocentric and based on the lived experiences of majority groups and the ways they operate in dominant environments. In this workshop we propose an enhanced Māori career framework based on our research with wāhine Māori accountants in the Aotearoa New Zealand. Researchers have examined the severe under-representation of indigenous people’s barriers to advancing careers, and social exclusion in the accounting profession. Adding to the complexity surrounding discrimination in professional work, indigenous women have faced the “double whammy” of gender and ethnicity discrimination. In our research with wāhine Māori in the accounting profession, normalising Māori knowledge and experiences was paramount. This required us to challenge prevailing structures that determined social conditions and relations which undermine a Māori worldview. We also position the experiences, beliefs and exchanges that occurred between the presenters, as a Māori and non-Māori indigenous researchers. We draw on our cultural identity and research findings to inform this workshop. The career framework developed from our research will illustrate how career pathways are experienced within dimensions of whānau, whakawhanaungatanga and Te Ao Hou. We consider whānau as being central to one’s cultural identity and societal acceptance, i.e. sense of belonging; whakawhanaungatanga refers to relational practices we engage in across structures and organisations, and Te Ao Hou relates to understanding the contemporary world for Māori. We aim to initiate discussion on each of the dimensions with the audience and how this framework may support career practice in schools. We support career practitioners to look beyond Eurocentric career paradigms and value our unique knowledge to enhance their careers and guidance practice.