The Matata Initiative had its genesis over 100 years ago, from the experiences of the mother of one of the Initiative funders in Matata in the Bay of Plenty of Aotearoa New Zealand. Intergenerational discussions that started after she married and had family, and continued over decades, have led to an exciting new venture in 2023 aiming to boost the numbers of Māori and Pasifika young people undertaking study and careers in engineering or technology.

“Matata” – history and meaning

Several accounts from mātauranga tuku iho associate the name Matata with a division or a split. The original name for Matata was Otamarora. It was later given the name Matata by Ngāti Ohomairangi who journeyed there aboard the waka Arawa. The “split” associated with Matata is understood to be related to the time of the Arawa’s arrival, but there are several possibilities as to the exact nature of the split that led to the name.

The meaning could be a literal reference to the fact that the Arawa’s hull split when it beached due to tidal variation. The original location associated with the name Matata is on the corner of Greigs Road and Thornton Road heading east from Matata towards Whakatane, so another possibility is that the meaning was derived from the appearance of the river mouth at this location, where the Tarawera and Rangitaiki Rivers joined to become one. The converging tributaries seen from the ocean could have been remembered as a divide in the river’s waters. Another account recalls that this was the place where Ngatoroirangi and others split from those who continued their journey aboard the Arawa, to head inland to Tongariro.

A Conversation That Spans the Generations

While teaching at the Native School in Matata in the Bay of Plenty in the early 1900s, Dick Earle’s mother, Eileen Ramsay, was dismayed at the differences between the quality of education delivered through the grammar schools that served non-Māori communities and the native schools that served the Māori population at that time. Later, Eileen discussed those memories with her own children, emphasising the importance of equitable education opportunities and that not all children had access to the same learning in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Recognising that matata, or split, in educational strategies for native and grammar schools, and therefore Māori and non-Māori, likely motivated Eileen Earle (nee Ramsay) to reflect with her family on the potentially inequitable outcomes of that approach. A generation later that inequity is being increasingly acknowledged and the seed sown a century earlier has grown into the aspirations of Eileen’s son Dick and his wife Mary.

Professor Dick Earle DistFEngNZ, President of Engineering New Zealand 1988-1989, remembers discussing with his mother how limited the professional opportunities for rangatahi were at that time. Throughout their academic careers in engineering and technology, spanning four decades from the 1960s, Dick and his late wife Professor Mary Earle HonFEngNZ continued to be concerned that few Māori and Pasifika young people studied engineering or technology to a professional level.

The Matata Initiative is born

In 2023, the Engineering New Zealand Foundation is pleased to launch the Matata Initiative, funded by the Professors Earle. The express purpose of the initiative is to lift the numbers of Māori and Pasifika young people who undertake four-year degrees in engineering or technology, and go on to launch professional careers. Through the generosity of the Earles, the Foundation anticipates it will be able to offer funding for the Initiative over an at least 20-year period from 2024, with at least $250,000 available annually.

While the name “Matata” represents and acknowledges the split in opportunities, the goal of the Initiative is confluence – a purposeful lifting of the participation rates of Māori and Pasifika in engineering to eventually close the gap to the overall participation rate in this country. Success, as Dick sees it, would be when the proportion of Māori and Pasifika in the engineering profession of Aotearoa New Zealand matches that of the general population, but he recognises that achieving that goal will take many years. As the Initiative develops, Dick hopes that Māori and Pasifika engineers will increasingly play a major role in attracting rangatahi into engineering, with programmes funded by the Initiative then supporting the education and progression of those rangatahi.

How Does the Initiative Work?

The Initiative will fund, on a multi-year basis, one or more programmes that best address the key issues limiting the entry and subsequent progression of rangatahi through the tertiary study of engineering and technology, and supports them into successful careers within the professional engineering workforce. Such programmes may support individual rangatahi.

A Selection and Monitoring Committee established by the Foundation is seeking proposals for programmes. The committee will evaluate these and recommend the funding of particular programmes to the Foundation Board of Trustees. The first call for proposals is in 2023, with registrations of interest requested by 24 August, and submission of finalised programme bids by 14 October 2023. Funding decisions are expected by the end of November 2023, with funded programmes expected to commence in early 2024. There will be annual monitoring of funded programmes and those demonstrating reasonable success can expect their funding to run for up to three calendar years.

During the period 2024-2026, it is expected there will be a total of $650,000 available: $150,000 in 2024 and then $250,000 in the two subsequent years. Another call for proposals is unlikely before 2025.

Matata Initiative Goal and Targets

By addressing the key issues limiting entry and progression of rangatahi through four-year degree tertiary study in engineering or technology, funded programmes will significantly increase the numbers of Māori and Pasifika young people progressing into professional careers in engineering and technology.

Overall target Indicators for the Initiative include:

  • The increase in numbers of Māori/Pasifika as a proportion of the total of working engineers and technologists in Aotearoa New Zealand.
  • A high proportion of the total funding directly benefiting rangatahi in programmes funded by the Initiative.

Key Performance Indicators – 2023 Round

To be considered favourably for funding in 2023, programmes must contribute to achievement of the Initiative’s overall goal and target indicators, and:

  • identify and address key issues limiting entry and progression of rangatahi in professional engineering and technology
  • increase the numbers of rangatahi who might not otherwise have chosen to study engineering or technology
  • if based on an existing programme, clearly demonstrate how the additional funding provided will meaningfully enhance and expand that programme
  • provide benefits to rangatahi nationally, or at least in multiple regions
  • support rangatahi culturally as well as educationally
  • have been co-developed, and are intended for co-delivery with relevant Māori or Pacific organisations or communities
  • include significant contributions from others, which may be financial and/or in-kind
  • be proposed by people or organisations with a successful track record in the type of programme proposed.

Desirable attributes are:

  • having a high participation of Māori and Pasifika role models, mentors, tutors
  • having ongoing involvement of hapū, iwi or other Māori organisations and/or Pacific community organisations through means such as but not limited to:
    • local partnering, which assists rangatahi to join the programme from their own rohe
    • partnering with education providers to improve their tikanga/kawa for the cultural safety and well-being of rangtahi undertaking their studies
    • supporting education providers to include approaches from within Te Ao Māori for advancing environmental, social and economic wellbeing
    • supporting engineering education providers to include relevant Mātauranga in their curricula
    • including engineering/technology graduates in the organisation’s own commercial activities
  • contributing to cultural change within the engineering profession so engineers better work in partnership with Māori and Pasifika communities, and the profession better understands and respects the cultural diversity brought by Māori and Pasifika engineers.

Notes:

  1. The programme must operate within Aotearoa New Zealand.
  2. Rangatahi supported by the programme must be New Zealand citizens or hold permanent residence in Aotearoa New Zealand.
  3. Programme activities may occur at any career stage between Year 10 and the first two post-graduation years.
  4. Programmes may include provision of financial support to rangatahi provided such support is contingent on continued successful study.
  5. Tertiary study must be towards a Washington Accord-accredited BE(Hons) degree or equivalent such as the Massey University Bachelor of Food Technology.

Programme Evaluation 2025 and Beyond

Once the Committee has assessed the range of proposals submitted in 2023, it will develop a refined set of key performance indicators and evaluation and monitoring framework for the call for proposals in 2025, with subsequent monitoring of programmes funded from 2026. As the framework and indicators develop, they will be shared with key stakeholders to ensure their suitability.

Matata Initiative Selection and Monitoring Committee Membership

The Committee for 2023-2024 comprises: