Wasted, manipulated and compressed time: adult refugee students’ experiences of transitioning into Australian higher education

Baker, Sally; Irwin, Evonne; Freeman, Homa

doi:10.1080/0309877x.2019.1586849

Cited by 14 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…2020) highlight, a significant challenge is the need to 'make up' for lost time. In their research, participants were eager to make good use of their time, and they communicated being hopeful that their participation in higher education (HE) would lead to significant improvements in their lives (Baker et al 2020). Furthermore, as highlighted in Figure 2, 'status' and 'respect' are considered key features of achievement for SfRBs and their families, with education and career prospects as the process required to achieve this (Walker et al, 2005;King and Owens, 2018).…”

Section: Findings and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘One day I will make it to university’: Students from Refugee Backgrounds in University Pathway Programs

Bilic

Thai²

2023

IJLTER

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Australian universities have received an increasing number of students from refugee backgrounds (SfRBs) over the last few decades. However, programs adapted for the successful transition of this cohort remain relatively scarce. Therefore, there is a critical need for programs and strategies supporting SfRBs meaningful participation and success in their studies. This empirical paper reports on a project conducted at UniSA College. The research explores cultural and learning experiences of SfRBs in a university pathway program. This paper utilises data from a student survey, focus group, and interviews conducted with Peer Support Officers to explore students' aspirations, challenges they face and recommendations for the university and the enabling pathway program. The findings highlight that despite aspiring to obtain university qualifications, SfRBs encounter serious barriers including challenges associated with English language proficiency, as well as with navigating university and academic culture, managing family and work commitments whilst facing social exclusion and racism. For successful engagement of SfRBs education institutions need an all-encompassing approach consisting of culturally responsive efforts and peer-led support systems for students.

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Section: Findings and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘One day I will make it to university’: Students from Refugee Backgrounds in University Pathway Programs

Bilic

Thai²

2023

IJLTER

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“…In such contexts, refugees see education as an important capability that could give them some agency to navigate through the challenges, hopes and aspirations they have for future. Yet, the aspirations of refugees, unlike the findings of some other refugee higher education research (Baker et al, 2019;Nadooi, 2018), are not primarily driven by the search for better life opportunities, generating income, or an upwardly mobile aspirational future, but by the desire to make small changes in their own lives and engage with the society and community. Here, the public good role of higher education as a normative concept appears as being "accountable to the larger community beyond higher education" (Marginson, 2011: 418), which underlines the idea that participation in higher education also involves developing aspirations and agency to expand the capabilities (opportunities) of others, to work for the social good, and to challenge structural inequalities in an effort to create a more inclusive society.…”

Section: Navigating Accessmentioning

confidence: 98%

Navigating university spaces as refugees: Syrian students’ pathways of access to and through higher education in Turkey

Cin

Doğan

2020

International Journal of Inclusive Education

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This paper aims to explore and understand how refugee students construct pathways of access to higher education and how they experience this education by drawing on interviews with fifteen Syrian university students studying at different universities across Turkey. The research is located within a capabilities-based human development paradigm from which it outlines the factors that enable students' access to university and the ways in which higher education expands the opportunities of students to lead better lives (capabilities) and the achievements (functionings) that they have reason to value. The refugees' narratives show that the pathways to access are intersectionally shaped by personal ambition and agency, family encouragement, support from those around them, gender, the government policy of lifting fees for refugees, and the availability of several scholarships. Student voices also show that higher education works as a site of justice where the everyday racism, xenophobia, and discrimination is alleviated to a significant degree through providing a peaceful and safe space for coexistence with others, and how it has an impact towards gender equality in their personal lives. The discussions indicate that higher education can be inclusive to the extent that it offers a space of equity for refugees and encourages them to work and act with others in order to expand the comprehensive capabilities of others.

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“…SfRBs are a ‘super-disadvantaged’ cohort (Lambrechts, 2020 ) because of the constellation of challenges that they are likely to face due to their pre- and post-forced migration experiences. A growing body of scholarship has explored the barriers to access and participation, including information barriers (Bajwa et al, 2017 ), language development (Baker et al, 2018 ), transition (Baker & Irwin, 2021 ; Naidoo et al, 2018 ), issues of institutional support (Mangan & Winter, 2017 ), different understandings of time (Baker et al, 2020 ), and issues related to online teaching (Halkic & Arnold, 2020 ). While this article focuses on the Australian context, the issues described here are pertinent to other settlement contexts, with similar challenges noted in countries such as the UK (Lambrechts, 2020 ; Mangan & Winter, 2017 ), Canada (Bajwa et al, 2017 ), the US (McWilliams & Bonet, 2016 ), Germany (Streitweiser & Brück, 2018 ) and Spain (Marcu, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing trauma-informed university supports for refugee background students in Australia: Refocusing through an ethics of care lens

Baker

Naidoo

2023

Aust. Educ. Res.

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The growing literature on access, participation, and success of refugees entering higher education has illustrated the myriad challenges that this cohort faces. Much of this research has rightly focused on the student perspective, exploring the barriers and challenges that impede entry, engagement, and achievement. Relatedly, there is growing attention to the need for trauma-informed support, particularly following the impacts of COVID on learning. This article takes these challenges as a departure point to adjust the gaze on universities and ask what needs to be considered and implemented in order to develop better student supports. We use Tronto’s (2013) notion of ethics of care—examining issues of attentiveness (caring about), responsibility (caring for), competence (caregiving), responsiveness (care receiving), and trust (caring with)—to carefully probe how universities can develop trauma-informed supports that are more caring and nuanced, not only for students from refugee backgrounds but for all students.

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Wasted, manipulated and compressed time: adult refugee students’ experiences of transitioning into Australian higher education

Cited by 14 publications

References 37 publications

‘One day I will make it to university’: Students from Refugee Backgrounds in University Pathway Programs

‘One day I will make it to university’: Students from Refugee Backgrounds in University Pathway Programs

Navigating university spaces as refugees: Syrian students’ pathways of access to and through higher education in Turkey

Developing trauma-informed university supports for refugee background students in Australia: Refocusing through an ethics of care lens

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