When this year's UTS Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) winner and PhD candidate Nikita Kapahi was exploring what research question to interrogate, she became interested in negotiation and mediation. After reading widely on the topic, Nikita was surprised to find that there was very little reference to culture, and this gap has become the subject of her PhD.
UTS 3MT winner wants mediation to be more inclusive
“Mediation is not about telling people how to resolve their conflict. It’s about empowering them to come up with solutions to resolve it themselves,” said Nikita.
“When I became interested in this topic, every time I’d read a mediation textbook, I’d find only a very small section on culture. I found this interesting, because a lot of the things I was reading seemed very idealised for conflict, and certainly didn't reflect my own experiences with people in my life and how I had witnessed conflict occur.”
Nikita believes that someone could read everything on intercultural mediation because there hasn't been very much written – yet.
“Even in those texts that do mention culture, a lot of the work is around how mediation is practiced internationally. I found very few textbooks which explored how mediation would occur if there were different cultures interacting together.”
In an intercultural country like Australia, Nikita said that people from many different cultural backgrounds encounter conflict.
“How each of those cultures respond differently from their positions isn’t considered very often in textbooks, let alone the assumption that Western ways of British or Americanised modes of conflict resolution are seen as a one size fits all model that could apply for everyone.”
Even in those texts that do mention culture, a lot of the work is around how mediation is practiced internationally. I found very few textbooks which explored how mediation would occur if there were different cultures interacting together.
Nikita says that it's not just about your cultural background: there are other cultural components that she refers to as worldviews.
“Worldviews include your values, your systems, your religion and the way you were brought up. A lot of these things will also influence how you behave,” Nikita explained.
Through her research, Nikita has found that a lot of people think that the current way mediation is taught and practiced should apply to everyone.
“However, the textbooks have been developed from a very Americanised and British way of looking at the world, and are not representative of all cultures or worldviews.”
Nikita has also found that many people in Australia wrongly assume that their own cultural experience is neutral, particularly those whose families have been here for generations.
She hopes to change this by having more cultural competency training included for mediation accreditation, that is regulated by the Australian Mediator and Dispute Resolution Accreditation Standards (AMDRAS).
“These guidelines outline the training and accreditation requirements of practicing as a mediator. My research hopes to come up with recommendations to highlight the gaps, amend these standards and create a standard that's more inclusive that is more representative of Australia’s culturally diverse population.”
In reflecting on her Three-Minute Thesis experience, Nikita said that it was a great opportunity to meet other researchers and learn about their research.
“The whole time throughout the process, I was in awe of the incredible research that's happening in different areas of the university that I didn't know about,” Nikita said, adding that everyone should take advantage of the 3MT opportunity.
“Participating in the competition helps you articulate your work to a lay audience and find a way to connect with them. And that's important, especially when you just have a normal conversation with people, or you're networking, or you're going to conferences.”
Nikita said that the most important thing she learned from the competition was to use examples from personal experience and to always strive to be relatable to your audience. We wish her all the best in the next step of the competition - the 2026 Asia-Pacific Three Minute Thesis (3MT) semi-final!
