Indigenous students are engaged with learning at a similar or slightly higher level than their non-Indigenous peers, and report levels of overall satisfaction equal to or higher than their peers.

This Research Briefing by the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement addresses Indigenous engagement with universities.

Key findings include:

• Indigenous students are more likely to seriously consider leaving their institution. While only 1.9 per cent of Indigenous students actually plan to leave before completion, Indigenous students continue to be less likely to complete than their non-Indigenous peers.

• In comparison to non-Indigenous students, Indigenous students are more likely to be female, to be older; and to come from regional or remote Australia. They are more likely to be studying externally, with evidence that many are doing this via ‘Block Mode’ intensive programs. Only 58 per cent reported studying fulltime and on-campus, compared to 74 per cent of non-Indigenous domestic students.

• Indigenous students report markedly higher levels of engagement in relation to work-integrated learning. This difference is probably due to the fact that the older Indigenous students are often employed before commencing study, and select courses directly relevant to their work.

• The AUSSE results provide considerable grounds for optimism in terms of Indigenous students’ engagement in Australian higher education. Further research is needed to explore areas of concern and also to strengthen the evidence base regarding factors related to Indigenous success in higher education. This could be done by devising new questionnaire items for national surveys such as the AUSSE.

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