Turning indigenous secondary students' educational disadvantage around : how psychologists can begin to make a real difference

All Australian governments for decades have acknowledged that Indigenous students are the most disadvantaged Australians based upon a plethora of objective indicators including education which predicates life opportunities. Australian psychologists serving in a diversity of vital roles (e.g., school counselling, clinical psychology, academic research) have failed to adequately address this situation. This paper summarises the results of a study commissioned by the Department of Education, Science, and Training that was designed to: a) evaluate the self-concepts of Indigenous secondary students; b) identify Indigenous studentsââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ aspirations; c) elucidate Indigenous studentsââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ perceptions of barriers faced in attaining their aspirations; and d) compare and contrast the pattern of results for Indigenous students (N=517) to results for non-Indigenous students from the same schools (N=1151). Indigenous students displayed statistically significantly lower academic (school, maths, verbal) self-concepts, and aspirations in comparison to non-Indigenous peers. Indigenous students also rated 9 potential barriers with significantly higher scores compared to non-Indigenous students. The results of this investigation and the recommendations to the Commonwealth emanating from this study provide a potential turning point for strengthening Indigenous education. This paper focuses particularly on the implications of the findings for career education, family counselling, and psychological research.