Abstract
This article employs the concepts of recognition and precarious mobilities to understand university education for people from a refugee background. The authors draw on their ongoing qualitative longitudinal narrative enquiry exploring the experiences of 22 students in Australia from asylum-seeking backgrounds during their three-year study for a Bachelor’s degree. Theories of recognition informed by the work of Axel Honneth and Nancy Fraser provide a conceptual framework for analysing the students’ experiences in navigating government and institutional policies and practices which often fail to recognise the unique needs of this distinct group. Few higher education institutions fully acknowledge the educational capital and transnational understandings that students from refugee backgrounds develop through navigating precarious mobilities. Instead of receiving recognition for these assets, such students often feel they do not belong in higher education in the host society. Thus, belonging, an essential component in supporting their success in higher education and settlement, is undermined. To appreciate how university practices are informing student experiences, the authors explore two competing discourses: “the education of international students is Australia’s third-largest export” on the one hand, and “higher education should be made available to all who can benefit from it” on the other.
Highlights
International organisations such as the United Nations are calling on universities to play a role in supporting the 2030 Agenda’s education-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) of increasing access to education for all throughout their life course (UNHCR 2019, UN 2015)
While international student mobility is encouraged for its economic benefits – “the education of international students is Australia’s third-largest export, behind only iron ore and coal” (Universities Australia 2017), borders are tightened to restrict the mobility of people from a refugee background (Gerrard 2017)
We include verbatim statements from students from asylum-seeking backgrounds in Australian universities. Their responses to our questions emerged from a second wave of interviews we conducted with them as part of an ongoing qualitative longitudinal narrative enquiry in which we are following 22 students studying for their Bachelor’s degree
Summary
International organisations such as the United Nations are calling on universities to play a role in supporting the 2030 Agenda’s education-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 4) of increasing access to education for all throughout their life course (UNHCR 2019, UN 2015). Many nations, including Australia, where the study presented here is being conducted, have adopted ambivalent approaches to mobile populations seeking to access their higher education provision. While international student mobility is encouraged for its economic benefits – “the education of international students is Australia’s third-largest export, behind only iron ore and coal” (Universities Australia 2017), borders are tightened to restrict the mobility of people from a refugee background (Gerrard 2017).. This article focuses on access to higher education for members of the second group – students from refugee backgrounds. We include verbatim statements from students from asylum-seeking backgrounds in Australian universities. Their responses to our questions emerged from a second wave of interviews we conducted with them as part of an ongoing qualitative longitudinal narrative enquiry in which we are following 22 students studying for their Bachelor’s degree. Asylum seekers’ university experiences have rarely been studied because they are often marginalised in university data collection records, with the Recognition and precarious mobilities: The experiences of
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