Desiring education, exhibiting agency, experiencing systemic obstacles: Re-examining the perceptions and experiences of education among Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in Australia

We present new findings from a Western Australian mixed-methods study exploring a sample of Indigenous and non-Indigenous secondary school students’ (N = 536) experiences and perceptions of school. Respondents hailed largely from remote or regional Western Australia, although approximately half attended boarding school. This article presents findings of multivariate analysis of responses to the Multi-Dimensional Student Perceptions of School Questionnaire (MSPSQ) and identifies that Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in this study were found to be equally likely to report a positive perception of the benefit of education and the importance of attending and completing year 12, and equally likely to experience family support for education. Yet, student experience of positive school culture, career development opportunities and access to study environment significantly differed across schools. Despite equivalencies across groups regarding perceived importance of completing school, Indigenous students were significantly less likely than non-Indigenous students to express an intention to go on to further education beyond year 12.