Why university pathways for Indigenous youth must go beyond accessibility

It was also during this time that Mihalicz reconnected with his culture. “A turning point in my life came early in my sentence when I was introduced to the Native Brotherhood,” says Mihalicz. The prisoner-led Native Brotherhood is an initiative created to advocate for cultural programming, promote a mutual understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous prisoners, and to provide support to those trying to make positive lifestyle changes.

“In the years that followed, I worked closely with my Elders to develop and carry out a personal healing plan that draws on traditional ceremonies and teachings to promote change and personal growth,” he says. “As I began to learn my teachings and traditions, I started to feel a sense of belonging and purpose.”

Indigenous spirituality, Mihalicz says, is not about following a doctrine, but rather the journey of self-discovery and living one’s values as a way to understand one’s place in the world.

This journey ultimately led Mihalicz to a new thesis project, one that probed educational disparities in Canada and in particular the gap in university attainment rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

His research showed that addressing both access and preference factors is crucial for improving Indigenous students' participation in higher education. Preference factors included things like beliefs about one’s capacity for academic achievement and feelings of belonging and community.

“Many, if not all, of the factors affecting access to university, like funding, can be addressed relatively easily within the colonial system,” says Mihalicz. “Factors affecting preferences require post-secondary institutions to step outside of colonial constructs to look at what the institution is doing that makes these programs unwelcoming or undesirable for Indigenous students.”

Mihalicz says that this approach requires a more sustained effort to change organizational culture and behaviours.

“Addressing the incompatibility of worldviews and ways of knowing, for example, requires a fundamental shift in the acceptance of alternative worldviews as equally valid and make space for students to be evaluated according to those that they have adopted,” he explains.

In sharing circle discussions he hosted with graduate students on their post-secondary experiences last year, two barriers stood out: a lack of a sense of self-efficacy and belonging.

One way to help build students’ beliefs in their academic abilities, Mihalicz believes, is through hands-on opportunities. This approach is what informs the TMU open-elective course “Design Thinking Experience.”

The class, which is open to all university students, also offers seats to up to 10 Indigenous high school students, free of charge, as a way to introduce them to a university setting. High school students will earn a university course credit and gain access to TMU's student resources as well as exposure to the campus and insight into what it's like to be a student at a major university. 

“The real value of this course, however, is that students have an opportunity to see that they are good enough to earn a university degree, that they are welcome and accepted here and that this is a space where they can bring their whole selves,” says Mihalicz.

The goal of the course is to also cultivate dialogue between high school and university students to improve the university experience, particularly for marginalized groups, with an emphasis on the needs of students. “The idea is to co-create an improved university experience for all of our students together with the next generation of learners.”

The course takes a human-centred approach to design and problem-solving and is inspired by the concept of “two-eyed seeing (Etuaptmumk),” which combines Indigenous and mainstream perspectives to create a more holistic approach to knowledge creation.

This approach teaches us to see the strengths of Indigenous and Western perspectives. “It’s about listening to and respecting each other’s stories and ways of knowing and in doing that we’re able to create a space for everyone to coexist that maintains the integrity of our identities and voices,” says Mihalicz.

Since accepting the position of Indigenous Advisor at the Ted Rogers School of Management (TRSM), Mihalicz has led efforts to develop an end-to-end recruitment and retention strategy for Indigenous students.

The Indigenous Admissions Process addresses systemic barriers in the existing admission system and an Awareness Training Program helps student-facing staff engage more effectively with Indigenous students. Together, these initiatives laid the foundation for the recruitment and retention efforts that would follow.

“We’ve since adopted a holistic approach aimed at making the physical space, curriculum, and community more inclusive as well as creating more paths for Indigenous students to TRSM. We are bringing their voices to the table to help shape our efforts and under their guidance, we’ve set out to transform TRSM – to develop true trans-cultural collaborations and to take a hard look at what we as a faculty can do better to create a more welcoming environment.”

The program intends to track its progress by the number of Indigenous students who successfully complete their program, who would not have had the opportunity to study at the leading business school.

TMU’s Ted Rogers School of Management has committed to centering the history and contributions of Indigenous peoples, creating space for Indigenous knowledge frameworks, practices, and experiences.

As part of this effort to decolonize the curriculum, Mihalicz developed an important resource to help integrate Indigenous perspectives into the business curriculum. Indigenous Entrepreneurship: A community-driven approach to new venture creation sheds light on the legitimacy of business in Indigenous traditions by exploring pre-colonial commerce, trade and exchange in the Americas and mapping trade routes to show how Indigenous peoples developed complex economic systems that laid the foundation for the modern North American economy.

“Indigenous peoples’ contributions to modern business practices offer valuable insights into sustainable development and community-centred management,” Mihalicz notes. “Our goal is to introduce students to Indigenous cultural values and how the influence of culture, values and community in organizations can foster a more respectful, cohesive and harmonious socio-economic environment.”

As part of creating a sense of community and belonging at the Ted Rogers School of Management, a Birchbark Canoe made by Mi’kmaw artisan Todd Labrador was unveiled last year to celebrate the rich history of Indigenous entrepreneurship in present-day Canada.

Canoes were vital to Indigenous trading networks that existed across North America for thousands of years, long before the arrival of Europeans, making travel and trade possible. The important and mutually beneficial trading networks between Indigenous Nations and communities formed the basis of the fur trade with Europeans and were foundational to the creation of Canada. 

“More than that, these canoes have come to symbolize knowledge sharing between Indigenous peoples and settler Europeans and a time in our relationship marked by mutual respect, reciprocity, intercultural understanding, and cultural exchange.”

For decades, Governments and educational institutions across Canada have been increasingly concerned about an education gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada. More recently, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action recognized the urgent need to reduce the education gap as a crucial aspect of national reconciliation.

Studies show that across numerous socio-economic indicators, Indigenous communities experience greater disadvantages compared to non-Indigenous Canadians. 

“By almost every measurable indicator of wellness in society, Indigenous peoples in Canada are among, if not the most disadvantaged populations across North America,” says Mihalicz. 

“What we’re seeing today is the direct result of hundreds of years of violence against Indigenous peoples and a system that was designed to advance an agenda that conflicts with Indigenous interests and ways of being. Violence that continues to this day,” he explains. 

A poignant example of this is the residential school system. “By separating Indigenous children from their communities and traditional knowledge systems, the residential school system disrupted the intergenerational transmission of knowledge, worldviews and ways of being,” says Mihalicz. “What resulted was the mass alienation of Indigenous peoples from the education system in Canada and a general distrust of public institutions.”

For Mihalicz, there is no use opening up access if we don’t also address the motivating influences, mindset and preferences around education. This involves deconstructing colonial ideologies that have historically worked to effect the erasure of Indigenous history, culture and way of life and creating space for Indigenous perspectives and experiences.

“As a major university and Canada’s largest business school, I feel that we have a duty to ensure that Indigenous peoples have equitable access to education opportunities,” he says. “More than that, it’s an opportunity to help right a hundreds-of-years-old wrong on a national level and make a meaningful change in the lives of countless individuals.”