Rate My Professor Patrick Vakaoti

Professor Patrick Vakaoti serves as Dean of Te Tumu – School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies and Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Gender Studies and Criminology within the Division of Humanities at the University of Otago. Originally from Fiji, with roots in Malawai, Gau, Lomaiviti, and Ucunivanua, Verata, Tailevu, he earned his BA and MA from the University of the South Pacific and a PhD from the University of Queensland, focusing his doctoral research on street-frequenting young people in Fiji. Joining Otago in 2009, his career includes prior positions as Pacific Islands Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s State, Society and Governance in Melanesia Programme, principal research consultant for UNICEF’s East Asia and Pacific Office in Bangkok, and national researcher on UNICEF-Fiji Government child protection projects. At Otago, he held roles such as inaugural Humanities Associate Dean (Pacific) until 2021, inaugural coordinator of the Pacific Thought Network (PacTNet), member of the Pacific Leadership Group and Human Ethics Committee, and current Co-Director of the Otago Global Health Institute.

Vakaoti’s research interests encompass youth participation and leadership in the Pacific, street-frequenting young people, youth activism, child protection, governance, boyhood, and indigenous community development, with a strong Pacific focus. Notable publications include his monograph Street-Frequenting Young People in Fiji: Theory and Practice (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018); the chapter “Young people’s constitutional submission in Fiji: opportunities and challenges” in Youth, Inequality and Social Change in the Global South (Springer, 2019); “Integrated social protection and COVID-19: Rethinking Pacific community responses in Aotearoa” in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (2021); and “Supporting and engaging with Pacific learners: a higher education development workshop for tertiary staff” in Higher Education Research & Development (2025). He contributes to international collaborations, including an Australian Research Council Discovery Project with La Trobe University on Pacific youth leadership. In teaching, he emphasizes research-informed, student-centred approaches infused with Fijian values, delivering courses like INGS 501 Indigenous Theory and Method, and supervises PhD students on Pacific youth and indigenous topics. His impact is recognized through the 2022 Te Whatu Kairangi – Aotearoa Tertiary Educator Award with endorsement in Enhancing Pacific Learners’ Success and a University of Otago Teaching Award.