Melinda Webber

{{Short description|New Zealand education researcher}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=October 2023}} {{Infobox academic | name = Melinda Webber | native_name = | native_name_lang = | image = Melinda Webber, Michael Holmes Royal Society Auckland 2023 (cropped).jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Webber in 2023 | birth_name =  | birth_date =  | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = | citizenship = | nationality = | fields = | workplaces = | patrons = | alma_mater = University of Auckland | thesis1_title = Hybrid Māori/Pākeha: Explorations of identity for people of mixed Māori/Pākeha descent (Master's thesis) | thesis1_url = https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/handle/2292/21670 | thesis1_year = 2007 | thesis2_title = Identity matters: Racial-ethnic representations among adolescents attending multi-ethnic high schools | thesis2_url = http://hdl.handle.net/2292/21670 | thesis2_year = 2011 | doctoral_advisor = {{ubl|Elizabeth McKinley|John Hattie}} | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | known_for = | author_abbrev_bot = | author_abbrev_zoo = | influences = | influenced = | awards = Rutherford Discovery Fellowship | signature =  | signature_alt = | website =  | footnotes = | spouse = | children = }} '''Melinda Webber''' is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Auckland, specialising in Māori identity and ways in which race, ethnicity, identity and culture impact on young people and their success. She is of Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whakaue descent.<ref name=":0" />

==Academic career==

Webber completed a master's thesis titled ''Hybrid Māori/Pākeha: Explorations of identity for people of mixed Māori/Pākeha descent'' in 2007, and a PhD titled ''Identity matters: Racial-ethnic representations among adolescents attending multi-ethnic high schools'' in 2011, both at the University of Auckland.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Webber |first=Melinda |title=Hybrid Māori/Pākeha: Explorations of identity for people of mixed Māori/Pākeha descent |date=2007 |degree=Master's |publisher=ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland |hdl=2292/21670 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2292/21670}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite thesis |last=Webber |first=Melinda |title=Identity matters: Racial-ethnic representations among adolescents attending multi-ethnic high schools |date=2011 |degree=PhD |publisher=ResearchSpace@Auckland, University of Auckland |hdl=2292/21670 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2292/21670}}</ref> Her doctoral advisors were Elizabeth McKinley and John Hattie.<ref name=":2" /> In 2017, Webber received a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to explore identity and success from an iwi perspective.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Melinda Webber |url=https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/what-we-do/funds-and-opportunities/rutherford-discovery-fellowships/rutherford-discovery-fellowship-recipients/melinda-webber/ |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=Royal Society Te Apārangi}}</ref> She has also received a Marsden Fast Start grant, and in 2013 was a Fulbright Scholar.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=University of Auckland |title=Academic Profile: Melissa Webber |url=https://profiles.auckland.ac.nz/m-webber/about |access-date=2023-10-28 |website=profiles.auckland.ac.nz}}</ref> For her Fulbright award, Webber travelled to University of Wisconsin–Green Bay to share knowledge with their First Nations Studies programme.<ref>{{Cite web |last=fulbright |title=Māori scholar to share knowledge of school communities in the US |url=https://www.fulbright.org.nz/news/130213-webber/ |access-date=2023-10-28 |website=www.fulbright.org.nz |language=en}}</ref> Webber then joined the faculty at the university, rising to full professor in 2022.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Record number of new professors across education and social work - The University of Auckland |url=https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2022/02/02/record-number-of-new-professors.html |access-date=2023-10-27 |website=www.auckland.ac.nz}}</ref>

Webber is part of the Ngā Pae o te Maramatanga Centre of Research Excellence, and associate director of the Woolf Fisher Research Centre. Webber is on the editorial board of a number of journals, including the ''Australian Journal of Gifted Education'', ''Contemporary Educational Psychology'', and ''MAI Journal: A New Zealand Journal of Indigenous Scholarship''.<ref name=":1" />

Webber's research on reversing negative stereotypes has resulted in the publication of two books published by Auckland University Press, ''A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru'', also available in te reo as ''Ka Ngangana Tonu a Hineāmaru, He Kōrero Tuku Iho nō Te Tai Tokerau''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Melinda Webber: fire in her belly to bust stereotypes - The University of Auckland |url=https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2022/10/01/melinda-webber-book-fire-in-the-belly.html |access-date=2023-10-28 |website=www.auckland.ac.nz}}</ref> The books contain 24 biographies of Māori tūpuna.<ref name=":3" />

== Selected works == * {{CiteQ|Q113247953}} * {{CiteQ|Q113278609}} * {{CiteQ|Q123198293}} * {{CiteQ|Q123198658}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webber, Melinda}} Category:New Zealand academics Category:New Zealand women academics Category:University of Auckland alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of Auckland Category:New Zealand Māori women academics Category:New Zealand Māori academics Category:Ngāti Whakaue people Category:Ngāpuhi people Category:Ngāti Kahu people Category:Ngāti Hau people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people