Indigenous Students Enacting and Advancing Sovereignty in Higher Education: Relationships, Relevance, Reciprocity, Responsibility, Representation, and Respect Along STEMM Pathways

Indigenous students are the experts of their own experiences, and in this paper, we center the narratives of 17 Indigenous students pursuing STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medicine) pathways in colleges and universities across the western United States to better understand the affirming and challenging elements that compose their experiences. We narrate their experiences through the 6 Rs framework, which names relationships, relevance, reciprocity, responsibility, representation, and respect as core concepts for exploring Indigenous research and experiences. These concepts are also offered to frame the work that remains for postsecondary institutions, and especially STEMM stakeholders within these institutions. Our data and analysis point to three key learnings: (1) for many students, work experiences and/or research experiences are a significant factor influencing their STEMM pathways; (2) Indigenous students who identified as more traditional generally experience more conflicts along their STEMM pathways, but these students also understand the importance of their own presence and engagement because of the diverse epistemologies, understandings, and relationships they bring to STEMM spaces; and (3) sovereignty is important for STEMM leaders, faculty, and staff to understand because it is a foundational principle that informs many Indigenous students' decisions along their STEMM pathways.