Transitions from Exile to Academia: Experiences and Identities of Refugee Women Teachers from the Former Yugoslavia

Abstract

Western academic literature frequently represents refugee women through the lens of deficit, particularly as powerless victims of war, rape, domestic violence, and mental disorder. This representation is, however, limited in scope and problematic in its colonising nature. This article explores the experiences of three refugee women teachers from the former Yugoslavia who immigrated to Ontario and Quebec during and after the Yugoslav wars (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995) and whose narratives remain largely outside the master narrative of exile and settlement research. These women's stories challenge the image of a victimised and submissive refugee woman in the Canadian context and bring to the centre of the discourse the image of a refugee woman who is an aspiring academic. Through narrative inquiry, the 'storying stories' model, transcript poems and personal narrative of the researcher this article explores the issues of gender, forced migrations, and academic identity.

Becoming academics: experiencing legitimate peripheral participation in part-time doctoral studies

“…One paper is published as a result of our collaboration (Ratković, Tilley and Teeuwsen 2010). Snežana has published her first single-authored paper related to her doctoral research (Ratković 2011) and is writing a first draft of her dissertation. After a year and a half of fulltime studies, Phil accepted a position in a university faculty of education.…”

Reflections on Migration, Resilience, and Graduate Education

“…Limited or restricted opportunities to engage in extended scholarly activities are especially detrimental to refugees, as well as first-and second-generation immigrant graduate students who typically enter the competitive North American job market without the benefits of extensive social networks or relevant prior experience. The professional experiences and credentials of refugees are often unrecognized, challenged, and even discredited within host countries (Global Education Monitoring Report Team, 2018;Ratković, 2011Ratković, , 2013. Even when professional experiences and credentials are recognized, expectations for field-related work experiences within the host country serve as additional barriers to the attainment of meaningful employment (Colakoglu et al, 2018).…”