Refugees In Higher Education

Refugees and Higher Education provides a cross-disciplinary lens on one American university’s approach to studying the policies, practices, and experiences associated with the higher education of refugee background students.

This edited volume addresses critical issues surrounding higher education access for students of refugee backgrounds. It combines a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, experiences and expectations of refugee students, as well as some of the institutional frameworks that facilitate their access to higher education. Following a critical discussion of the notion of ‘integration’, the team of authors who are made up of academics and refugee students critically investigate higher education as an objective of as well as a means to greater inclusion and integration.

This book provides a critical appraisal of the participation of students from refugee backgrounds in higher education, exploring how global discourses about forced migration play out for students in terms of accessing, participating, and succeeding in higher education.

Until 2015, no refugees in Malaysia were able to access higher education, and they were unable to attend government schooling. Since then, six private higher education institutions have agreed to open their doors to refugees for the first time. This book contains stories from this small group of successful refugees, who have managed to receive higher education in a country that neither recognizes that they exist nor offers them even basic education. It identifies the factors that aided their success, and charts the challenges that they and their communities have faced. The authors present each story, based on interviews, within the context of the individual’s background and nation of origin. These stories are framed by a discussion of the situation that refugees face in accessing education globally, explaining how these stories and the methodologies used for this study are universal.

This book discusses digital learning opportunities in higher education for refugees with different educational, social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Based on findings from practical studies and research projects from several countries, the book highlights the numerous challenges when it comes to the successful integration of refugees into higher education. These challenges arise at both the individual and the institutional level. The contributions included in this book show how these challenges can be effectively met using digital teaching-learning platforms. The work thus offers a comprehensive insight into the opportunities online-based learning platforms offer regarding the successful integration of refugees into higher education Overall, the research presented in this volume is relevant for political stakeholders, university practitioners in the field of migration research, university research, and online and digital learning.

The book provides an overview and descriptive analysis of how selected countries - Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway, UK and Turkey- have responded to the massive inflow of refugees, as well as the policy practices they have developed concerning refugee students’ integration into higher education. Seeking to encourage sustainable policy responses and national frameworks, this report highlights these selected countries’ procedures to ensure access to higher education and also approaches to recognize foreign qualifications. It also examines particular challenges in the case of each country. The report limits its scope exclusively to refugee students, excluding practices developed for refugee academics/university staff. The book offers a contribution to the existing literature on educational policy for refugees and encourages higher education institutions to remember their central role as a driving force for social development and integration.

This book informs readers of theory, policy and practice of refugee and migrant equitable access to higher education, especially indicating how policy makers, educational leaders and practitioners can support refugees, asylum seekers, and other migrants' inclusion in higher education institutions in the global world.

This book draws from the voices of students and those who educate them to reveal the unique issues faced in the quest to access higher education in order to provide a greater understanding of the complex phenomenon of international migration and its intersection with higher education. Higher Education in the Era of Migration, Displacement and Internationalization examines how higher education institutions globally can improve to meet the needs of displaced people, refugees, migrants, and international students. Examining relevant policy, leadership, programs, and services that equitably meet diversified students’ needs, this book examines how institutions can increase access, participation, and success. The chapters present cutting-edge scholarship that tie the existing body of knowledge on international migration for higher education to ways that institutions of higher education can assist the formation of relevant policy towards displaced groups around the globe. Through students’ voices from different nations as well as global policy analysis, the book exemplifies how different higher education institutions are widening access pathways for atypical students. This book is essential reading for scholars, policy-makers, and communities of practitioners. It offers a greater understanding of the complex phenomenon of international immigration and its intersection with higher education. By transcending national policy analysis, it extends the subject of refugee and migration studies to a wider audience.