Rush for Indigenous hires at universities opens door to failure, impostors, say academics

Academic institutions across Canada are feeling the pressureto add more Indigenous staffto their faculty.

To meet the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's callto action to close employment gaps between Indigenous and non-IndigenousCanadians, some universities are creating new positions intheir departments.

Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, for example,is hiring fivenewIndigenous professors, bringingtotal Indigenous staffto ten, or 16 per centof thefaculty.

But some fearthe rapid push for Indigenous hires is leading tomisstepsfrom bringing on scholars before they are academicallyqualified,to concernsthat those withno connection to an Indigenous community will take spots reserved for those who do.

'I started to feelgross'

When Mtisacademic Jenny Fergusonsawall the Indigenous jobs popping up across the countryshe jumped at the opportunity. Butthenshe had second thoughts.

"I started to feelgross," said Ferguson, a visiting assistant professor of writing at Missouri Southern State Universityand an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia'sCreative Writing Program.

Ferguson's mother is white and herfather is Mtis, but her paternal grandmother hid her identityto protect herself from residential school and racism.So Fergusongrew up not knowing she was Indigenous. She also refers to herself as "white-coded" forpassing aswhite.

"These positions should go to people who are connected to their communities,people who are claimed by their communities andpeople who are serving their communities so that these positions can do the work to indigenize our universities," she said.

Linc Kesler who is Oglala-Lakota and German andanassociate professor of English and Indigenous studies at UBC inVancouver, agreesit is important for academic institutionsto ensure they are hiring Indigenous people with a genuine connection to theircommunity.

"Weare focused very clearly around requirements of being able to work with communities with an understanding ofcommunity issues," he said.

Proof of Indigeneity

Like most universities, UBC doesn't require studentsprovide any confirmation of Indigeneityother than a voluntary letter of self-declaration.

According to Sara-Jane Finlay, UBC'sassociate vice-president of equity andinclusion, the universityencourages search committees to request candidates to provide a 'diversity statement' todiscloseinformation about their identity.

"Candidates may share details of their background and self-declare particular identities, but we are not in a position to ask," Finlay said.

However, some institutionslikeVancouver Island University whichis currentlyworking ona strategyfor creating anIndigenous position have advisory committeestoguide the process.

Sharon Hobenshield, director of Aboriginal education and engagement at VIUwhich has a main campus in Nanaimo,says the hiring process goes far beyond a person's resum.

"[We would ask], where and who are the elders who have taught them,can they name the people who have influenced their lives?" saidHobenshield, who is Gitxsan and German.

Hobenshield also says she understands the complexity ofmodern Indigenous identify and experiencesthat have been influencedby residential school and the Sixties Scoop.

'Some real disasters'

Hobenshield is also concerned that the urgent push to bringmore Indigenous faculty in isbeing done without proper support and mentorship that some candidates may need.

Kesleragrees, saying he isseeing more Indigenous professorshired withoutproper credentials, some who have not yet defended their thesis,coming into acompetitive environment withoutsupport.

"I've seen some real disasters come out of that as ahiring process because what it does is it tends to undermine people's concern for the actual qualifications that the person brings to the position," he said.

He says being Indigenous should not outweigh onesacademic qualifications for the position.

"If thereis not a candidate who emerges as a very promising colleague, then suspend the search and search again rather than feel that you are forced into making a choicethat you are not confident of," he said.

For Hobenshield, a lack of academic experience cansometimes be compensated byIndigenous community experience, as long asthere is aplan for academic guidance.

"We can't just open the door, bring them inand then just leave them there on their own,"Hobenshieldsaid.

"We don't have a very strongculture of mentorshipin educational institutions and that's where we have to make a shift."

To hear more on how universities determine Indigenous identity, click on the link below.