Higher Education For Refugees Research Articles

Identity Politics and Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: Implications for Higher Education

Identities and identity politics play a significant role in the lives of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Using empirical qualitative research with focus groups as the primary research method, this article is a critical investigation into the ways in which Syrian refugees in Lebanon are simultaneously politicized through their everyday lived experiences yet depoliticized through humanitarian policy and practice. In particular, the article explores how the politicization/depoliticization dichotomy impacts Syrian refugees’ access to and experiences within higher education opportunities made available for them in Lebanon. The article argues that humanitarianism’s inattentiveness to intersectional identities and social hierarchies of power has often resulted in physical and psychological educational exclusions and reinforced existing inequalities and fissures/divisions between different groups of refugees. In this way, higher education for refugees has often fallen short of its potential to transform lives.

Open Higher Education for Refugees to Access: Virtual Learning in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Open Higher Education for Refugees to Access: Virtual Learning in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Book Review: Borderless Higher Education for Refugees: Lessons from the Dadaab Refugee Camps edited by Wenona Giles and Lorrie Miller

Book Review: Borderless Higher Education for Refugees: Lessons from the Dadaab Refugee Camps edited by Wenona Giles and Lorrie Miller

Gender and Access to Higher Education among Refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma Kenya: Challenges and Possible Interventions

Education plays a critical role in rebuilding societies torn apart by conflicts and violence that are often driven by socio-economic injustices and political differences. This makes people both young and old flee their homes and countries to seek refuge in other places ending up in refugee camps. While children in refugee camps are able to access some form of education at lower levels of learning, more male youth than their female counterparts tend to seek post-basic education outside the confines of refugee camps. Statistics show an increase of youth attending secondary school from 4% in 2011 to 10% in 2017. However, there were fewer young women than men accessing higher education in 2016, thus creating a gender disparity in favour of men with thirteen out of 91 students enrolled in tertiary education being female while 78 were males. This article, therefore, explores the challenges experienced in accessing higher education by both female and male refugees, as well as provides suggestions on enhancing gender equity in participating in higher education. The article is informed by findings from a desk review on the implementation of the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) in Dadaab and the Quality Secondary Education in Emergencies (QSEE) in Kakuma. The article further utilises findings from responses to an unstructured questionnaire that was administered to students undertaking the two programmes to explore their perceptions on challenges experienced in accessing higher education by refugees. Findings indicated that refugees face a myriad of challenges that compromise their ability to access higher education including, early marriages for girls, lack of scholarships to enable them to access education, limitation of movement which hinder them from joining other students in universities where they are enrolled for open learning.

Refugee Higher Education & Participatory Action Research Methods: Lessons Learned From the Field

Refugee access to higher education is devastatingly low. Recognizing the complex barriers facing refugee learners, global educational initiatives are innovating flexible learning models which promote blended online and in-person learning modalities. This article describes the implementation of a five month, online-based internship pilot offered to 21 refugee participants in qualitative and quantitative research methods, through a participatory action research (PAR) framework in five different countries -- Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Lebanon. The internship is part of the Global Education Movement (GEM), which brings refugees accredited online college degree and career development opportunities. Through direct engagement, observation of the internship and feedback from staff and participants, we highlight the ways in which the PAR model can serve as a dynamic learning approach to engage refugees in research practice and an evaluative tool of the GEM program. While the use of online learning presented several clear advantages, such as engaging multiple GEM sites simultaneously or insulating students from delayed studies due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it also revealed variations in student competencies across program sites. In this article, we review the GEM PAR internship, its lessons learned and propose recommendations for future programming.

Refugees’ pathways to German Higher Education institutions

Since 2015, Germany has followed a welcoming policy for refugees and has made efforts to integrate them in German society through initiatives such as development programs. However, very few refugee students have actually managed to enter German Higher Education (HE) institutions. Using a qualitative methodology, the researcher interviewed Arab refugee students studying in pre-academic and academic degree programs in Germany, to obtain answers to the following two main questions: 1) What are the main challenges that refugee students have experienced on their path to Germany as a host country? 2) What are the challenges that refugee students faced in HE in Germany and how does the German HE system respond to their needs? The findings suggest that, despite Germany’s desire to open up access to HE for refugees, the implementation of the policies adopted often sets administrative and social challenges to refugee students along their pathways to German HE institutions. These challenges include rigid access policies and procedures, unwelcoming public discourse and feelings of alienation. Nevertheless, students positively valued the new window of opportunity and universally applicable procedures offered in Germany, although they had not quite provided adequate responses to the refugees’ needs. The paper concludes with implications for policy makers wishing to open pathways for refugees to HE in intercultural academic spaces where they can interact and integrate within the academic community in preparation for their full integration into their host society.

No Longer a ‘Lost Generation’? Opportunities and Obstacles of Online and Blended Learning Programmes for Syrian Refugees in Jordan and Lebanon

Abstract The displacement of a large number of Syrians has resulted in interrupted and protracted education pathways for many young Syrians. Although access to higher education (HE) has been recognised as central to avoid creating a ‘lost generation’, refugees in host countries face considerable barriers to access HE, such as cost, capacity and lack of documents. Online and blended learning opportunities have been proposed as one solution in resource-constrained environments. However, refugees’ online learning capabilities and preferences remain poorly understood, as existing research has mainly relied on key stakeholders without involving refugees directly. This article presents results from a survey of 350 secondary level educated Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon conducted in 2017. We assess their online learning capabilities and subject preferences, and show how adapting online learning materials to enable smartphone learning with low bandwidth would significantly increase the potential pool of online education students. We discuss how educational organisations can best adopt these findings to improve access to HE for refugees.

Education for Humanity: higher education for refugees in resource-constrained environments through innovative technology

AbstractHalf of refugee children attend primary school and 22 per cent attend secondary school, yet only 3 per cent have access to higher education. When higher education efforts do exist, they often ignore common barriers refugees face in accessing it: cost, connectivity, lack of a power source, and access to devices, among others. Arizona State University’s Education for Humanity team piloted a programme to address this lack of access and associated barriers. Using a solar-powered, offline technology that emits a Wi-Fi hotspot, the team implemented a university-level course in Nakivale Settlement, Uganda. This article presents the results and findings from this pilot programme.

‘This is two different worlds, you have the asylum world and you have the study world’: an exploration of refugee participation in online Irish higher education

This qualitative study explores the transition experiences of refugees to study online in Dublin City University (DCU). Asylum seekers face financial, structural, cultural and digital equity barriers to access higher education (HE). In response to these barriers to access, DCU became a ‘University of Sanctuary’ in 2017, offering scholarships to refugees. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews. Four themes were constructed in the data-led thematic analysis: asylum world, belong-ing to the DCU community, the personal impact of studying and study world. Overall, this study strengthens the idea that access programmes such as the University of Sanctuary scholarships can facilitate participation in HE for refugees, provided that the necessary support to address the financial, structural, cultural and digital equity barriers is in place.

Higher Education for Refugees: A Need for Intersectional Research

Refugees pursuing higher education in the context of host countries face numerous challenges, but the literature is sparse on relevant university supports. This article evaluates the existing transnational literature using quantitative textual analysis to point toward the need for scholarship on intersectional programs serving refugee students. We then move to outline examples of such university structures, probing how intersectional programs undergird these marginalized students in Australia, Germany, the United States, and via online education providers. We address centralized admissions and enrollment procedures, mentorship, and student support networks. Finally, we urge the use of an intersectional lens in approaching program development and iteration in light of the multiple and unfolding displacement crises worldwide.

The Time Politics of Higher Education for Refugees in the United States

The Time Politics of Higher Education for Refugees in the United States

Access for Refugees Into Higher Education: A Review of Interventions in North America and Europe

This paper examines current interventions to reduce barriers to access into higher education for refugees in North America and Europe. We analyze a diversity of interventions sponsored by host governments, higher education institutions, foundations, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals. These interventions differ in size, delivery method, focus, and extent of support, and range from a single language course or limited online learning opportunity to fully accredited higher education programs. However, significant problems hamper the efficacy of many current interventions. We examine providers’ rationales for working with refugees using Knight and De Wit’s rationales for internationalization of higher education, later reconceptualized in four interrelated groups of rationales: academic, political, economic, and socio-cultural. To these, we propose adding a fifth category: humanism. To widen refugee participation and success in higher education, we suggest that policy makers and administrators should adopt a longer-term perspective, increase transparency, and use evidence-based approaches to develop and evaluate refugee programming.

Role of Borderless Higher Education for Refugees programme in offering high quality teacher education and training for refugees in Dadaab settlement in Kenya

The quality of refugee education across the world is wanting. Teacher quality for all in refugee camps/settlements is difficult to achieve in many countries that host refugees. Reason is because most international agencies that come to aid of the refugees are mostly concerned with basic humanitarian assistance like health, food and shelter. But teacher quality is a key determinant of students’ participation rates and achievement levels. It also remains an important ingredient towards attainment of social justice in terms of equity in educational quality for students. One contributing factor to teacher quality is professional training and education though its availability and quality create inequity for many refugee teachers in their camps. This paper describes how Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) initiative is improving access, equity, and quality in professional training and education of refugee un-trained volunteer teachers in Dadaab refugee settlement schools in north eastern Kenya.

Higher Education for Refugees

Introduction

Widening Participation in Higher Education for Refugees and Asylum Seekers

Widening Participation in Higher Education for Refugees and Asylum Seekers