I research international education, international development and foreign policy – with a special focus on where these three elements intersect. International development scholarships are one of those intersections and they were the subject of my PhD.

My PhD traced all the different international tertiary scholarships the Australian government has offered to Pacific Island countries (and before that colonial territories) between 1948 and 2018. It is a history of scholarships, but also a history of international education policy in Australia. Because of the timeframe and the geographic region, the thesis also shows a different side of the process of decolonisation in the Pacific, and especially in PNG.

During the course of my PhD I also looked at how international education has impacted on Australia and Australians, and the organisations and individuals who have been involved in supporting international students in Australia over the decades.

There is very little research focused on the history of Australian government scholarships, and even less focused on the Pacific. I’m excited to contribute to the development of a growing field of research.