Making higher education work for Indigenous peoples in Mexico
Think tank: Institute for Policy Research
Author(s): Dr Gunther Dietz; Dr Judith Pérez-Castro; Professor Michael Donnelly.
November 27, 2025
This report from UK think tank the Institute for Policy Research provides recommendations that address six recurring challenges for Indigenous students in Mexico.
Working with more than 300 individuals across six Mexican states between 2021 and 2024, the researchers analysed the role that higher education plays in supporting the social and economic development of Indigenous peoples. They found that while access to higher education has increased for Indigenous students, its monocultural and monolingual nature excludes the linguistic and cultural diversity that Indigenous students can contribute to campus life and academic learning.
The study highlights six recurring challenges: financial and economic barriers; limited access to higher education; difficulties in study continuity and completion; curricula that lack relevance and appropriateness; missed opportunities to value students’ linguistic capital; and experiences of discrimination, exclusion and racism.
These barriers, the authors argue, are structural, requiring coordinated reforms both within federal and state policymaking and the higher education institutions themselves.
