MSUM professor earns national honor for creating opportunities for Native American students
By Ingrid Harbo, The Forum
April 28, 2024 at 5:01 AM
MOORHEAD — Amplifying Indigenous voices in higher education is a priority for Caitlin Johnson.
At Minnesota State University Moorhead, the assistant professor of educational leadership researches how to better support Native American students at the school. Native Americans are underrepresented in higher education research studies, and few researchers are Native American, Johnson said.
Johnson, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, wanted to provide Indigenous students with opportunities to conduct research, present research findings and publish academic articles.
“I didn’t have a lot of those same opportunities when I was a student, but when you graduate, you were expected to have those opportunities,” Johnson said. “I had a year after graduation where I was slowly building up my resume so I could be eligible for a position like this, and I didn’t want other students to have to do that.”
That’s why she hired three Indigenous students as research assistants in her project.
“We’re addressing the equity gap in higher education,” Johnson said. “We’re also addressing an equity gap in research in general, so it was a big priority for me to bring Indigenous voices to the forefront of everything.”
For her work at MSUM, Johnson was named a 2024 Native American 40 Under 40 recipient. The award is given to American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians under the age of 40 who have demonstrated leadership, initiative and dedication and have made significant contributions in their communities, according to the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, which presents the award.