Amid the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (2015) calls to action is improving education attainment levels and success rates for Indigenous peoples (p. 2). Indigenous enrolment and completion rates in postsecondary education (PSE) have improved (McKeown, Vedan, Jacknife, & Tolmie, 2018; Restoule et al., 2013). Yet, Indigenous peoples in Canada still remain underrepresented in PSE (Restoule et al., 2013; Stol, Houwer & Todd, 2016; McKeown et al., 2018) with Indigenous learners, comprising about 1% of the overall college and university student population in Ontario with 16,000 Indigenous learners enrolled (Bathish et al., 2017, p. 4).
A program pathway is a route from one program to another within or between postsecondary institutions that contains benefits such as transfer credits or guaranteed acceptance. Research has shown that implementing pathways is a promising practice to support PSE access and attainment, especially among underrepresented populations. Thus, pathways may support broader decolonization strategies that support reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada (Ray, 2017; Ottmann, 2017).
Building on Phase 1 of the research which examined Indigenous program pathways from an institutional perspective, this research sought to expand current understandings of Indigenous program pathways in Ontario by privileging student voice and examining pathways from student perspectives. This was achieved primarily through the dissemination of an online student survey at Ontario colleges and universities (n= 330 participants). Three Indigenous student focus groups, and online engagement sessions and a one-day Indigenous pathway forum also took place to ensure the postsecondary communities’ participation in survey design and analysis.
This report presents the results of this research. It details who is accessing pathways to and/or from Indigenous programs, the experiences of pathway students within these programs, and the overall experiences of Indigenous transfer students in Ontario, whether or not they are enrolled in an Indigenous program.
Overall the research found that generally students seem content with their pathway experience and that there were more advantages than disadvantages to being a pathway learner. Results also showed that those who were more likely to already attend PSE were the students utilizing pathways the most, bringing into question the role of pathways in creating access to PSE.