Loading...
A qualitative exploration of the tertiary education experiences of refugee and asylum seekers in Australia
Sheikh, Mehak Koc, Yasin Anderson, Joel R.
Sheikh, Mehak
Koc, Yasin
Anderson, Joel R.
Abstract
The world currently has the highest documented level of displaced people in recorded history. This includes a large number of individuals who are spending their youth as asylum seekers or refugees, which often impedes their access to and engagement with educational pursuits. Given that education has been shown to be a fundamental factor to facilitative resettlement and acculturation for newly-arrived refugee families and individuals, continued research attempting to understand the barriers to accessing education is warranted. This study qualitatively examines the educational experiences (with a focus on access to education) of 10 refugee and asylum-seeking students in Australian tertiary education using thematic analysis on semi-structured interview data. Six themes were identified from the interviews as barriers to or facilitators in accessing education. These are: relationships, emotional well-being, logistics, knowledge, instability, and financial hardship. The findings from this study add to a limited empirical knowledge base on this topic, and improve our understanding of the experiences of accessing education for students with refugee backgrounds. This is discussed in relation to its implications for institutes and policy makers.
Keywords
Date
2019
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk
Book
Volume
24
Issue
4
Page Range
346-368
Article Number
ACU Department
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled