Research finds Indigenous peoples face unique challenges at work – but also reveals what can help

For some Indigenous peoples around the world, a day at work can mean experiencing repression, racism and regular reminders that we’re minorities in our own lands. Yet for others, work can be experienced as the exact opposite, as something that enables ourselves, our families and our communities to prosper.

What factors shape whether Indigenous employees experience their work as a source of strain or support? We’ve spent the past few years trying to answer this question by analysing as many studies of Indigenous workers as we could find.

All up, we reviewed 127 studies. Most came from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and Canada – though we also found studies of Indigenous workers in the United States, Taiwan, Vietnam, Mexico and Chile.

Our recently published study identified some common, recurring workplace challenges for Indigenous workers around the world. But it also found emerging evidence for what can help Indigenous workers thrive.

Mapping the challenges

As Indigenous workers ourselves, working on this project was sometimes quite disheartening. That’s because most studies paint a bleak picture of Indigenous work lives.

These work-related challenges are especially prominent in studies of Indigenous workers in mainstream organisations, such as government departments, accounting firms and mining companies.

Many studies, for example, point to the fact that Indigenous workers tend to be paid less. They’re also concentrated in jobs that provide few opportunities for skill development and building a sustainable career.

Indigenous employees can even struggle in workplaces that actually want to do better by Indigenous peoples. Plenty of studies highlight the sense of overload that can arise from “cultural double-shifting” – work Indigenous employees are expected to perform on top of their actual work, which draws on their Indigenous knowledge or connections.

Some research also exposes the strains Indigenous employees experience in jobs where we’re working for our own communities.

The recent TV shows Reservation Dogs and Dark Winds showcase some of these challenges in the work of Native American police officers.

Some of these challenges include community members’ negative stereotypes about one’s job, as well as unrealistic expectations about how much (or how often) workers should be available to help.

Clashing values

Why are these challenges so common? One answer is that mainstream organisations aren’t usually set up in ways that align with Indigenous people’s values and aspirations.

In fact, one of the strongest research themes we found was Indigenous workers’ feelings of misalignment between their Indigenous and workplace cultures. Consider this comment, from an interview-based study of First Nations workers in Canada’s mining industry:

I remember my friends also working at [the mine] with me telling me ‘Hey, it’s really different working in a mine, it isn’t the Cree way of life.’ It’s as if I’m involved in the destruction of our land.

We know these cultural tensions matter. That’s because some research shows the good that can happen when these tensions dissolve.

Indigenous workers often experience this when they move to work in Indigenous-centred (rather than mainstream) organisations.

One Australian study explains how in these kinds of workplaces, Indigenous values touch every part of the organisation, from hiring and recruitment to governance and leadership.

How managers can make a difference

Managers were also regularly highlighted as a “make or break” factor for Indigenous workers. On the one hand, having a strict, culturally ignorant manager means no softening of the organisation’s formality and rigidity.

On the other, a more supportive and inclusive manager can act as a buffer against these things. They can implement policies and procedures in ways that better align with the priorities of Indigenous employees.

Many studies show how this buffering was particularly helpful in allowing Indigenous workers to better juggle their work, cultural, family and community responsibilities.

Looking to the future

The body of research focused on Indigenous workers is still young, but also growing fast. Looking ahead, we see at least two key areas that deserve more attention.

First, we need more solution-focused studies. While exposing the challenges Indigenous peoples face at work is undoubtedly important, over-focusing on problems is also risky.

It can reinforce already negative stereotypes of Indigenous workers as troublesome or “high maintenance”. It can also crowd out space for finding solutions. We need more research that develops and tests initiatives that promote Indigenous thriving at work.

Second, we need more studies that explore the diverse identities of Indigenous workers. The research we collected tended to treat Indigenous and non-Indigenous people as entirely separate groups.

But many Indigenous people also have non-Indigenous heritage and identities – a reality that will only become more common in future generations.

For Indigenous workers, this kind of research is important because it helps to show employers and politicians the globalised nature of the challenges we can encounter at work. Doing so prompts reflection on why these challenges are so widespread, and crucially, what needs to be done to make work a place where more of us prosper.

Ben Walker receives funding from the Royal Society of New Zealand for research on cultural double-shifting amongst young Maori workers.

Nimbus A. Staniland receives funding from the Royal Society Te Aparangi, the Health Research Council of New Zealand, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for her research on Maori careers, Maori midwives and their whanau, and Maori perspectives on equity and reward in the workplace.