Community Based Health Researchers: Experiences of Indigenous Women

Balancing indigeneity, being a mother, and spending time on community-based research while having a larger workload are few of the hardships Indigenous women academics face.

It’s important to showcase personal and professional identities as it is an integral part of the research being done. Indigenous women conducting community based participatory research go through many hurdles to be successful scholars. Are these hurdles different than those faced by non-Indigenous and/or male researchers?

A 2020 study by Jamie Cidro and Kim Anderson examined how personal and professional attributes factor into the work these Indigenous women perform and learned more about their peer experiences as university-based health researchers.

Conversations with peers showed that personal and professional attributes influenced their approach and experience when conducting research. Participants shared they felt protective of their identities, as they might find their own relatives in archives and the information found is often distressing. One participant felt awkward for doing research with Indigenous peoples outside their own community as it was uncomfortable. Conversely, another participant said it is best not do research with your own people as they will play you.

There were also workplace challenges when forced to take on responsibilities to support the work of “indigenizing the academy”. Often participants were the only Indigenous professional at their respective institutions, and found that everyone wants an Indigenous perspective. These women also face family pressures; being a working mother means having to take their children on research trips, having increased stress, and going back from maternity leave early due to financial reasons and professional demands.

This study showed that there are many factors influencing the success of Indigenous women in academia. Indigenous women must work twice as hard as non-Indigenous or male researchers to establish their credibility, and still struggle to be considered for tenure-track positions.

It is important for academic institutions to recognize this extra labour and think of better ways to even the playing field.

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Study Details

Sample size/Participants: Eight university based Indigenous women community health researchers

Design: Qualitative Research Interviews

Reference:

Cidro, J., and Anderson, K. (2020). Because we love our communities: Indigenous women talk about their experiences as community-based health researchers. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 24(2), 3–17

Summarized by WinSights team member Shakiraa Suntharalingam

Edited by: Margie Christ, Bilal Rashid