The super-disadvantaged in higher education: barriers to access for refugee background students in England

Abstract

In view of the so-called 'refugee crisis' which began in late 2014, there is a growing potential demand for higher education opportunities amongst refugee communities in England and more widely in Europe. Whilst exact numbers are not certain, it is necessary to establish whether such demands can be met at all. Based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with nineteen refugees and asylum seekers residing in England, this study explores refugee background students' perceptions of the barriers to higher education and builds on previous research by including participants of varied ages, locations and study statusesnamely, aspiring to enrol, or currently enrolled in universities. While existing previous research provided extensive accounts of barriers to access, these were presented as separate issues, where in reality, these factors rarely occur in isolation. Thus, the analytical focus in this paper concerns how these different barriers to access not only accumulate, but also interrelate and exacerbate each other, leading to what can be described as a super-disadvantage. This new term is proposed here as indicating the extreme degree of denial of equal access to educational opportunities experienced by those with refugee background, resulting from the added, independent effect of their migration experiences, status, and the socioeconomic realities of living as a refugee. It is argued that this 'super-disadvantage' cannot be overcome without deliberate changes to outreach and support delivered by universities. These must be developed in partnerships with third sector experts and the refugee background students themselves.

European Policies for the Inclusion of Refugees in Higher Education: The Case of Greece

“…Relevant research, on the issue of refugee's inclusion in HEIs in Europe and elsewhere, although limited and somewhat under-developed, focuses, mainly, either on the barriers to access for refugee background students (Lambrechts, 2020;Yildiz, 2019) or the aspirations and experiences of refugees entering HE (Sontag, 2019;Schneider, 2018;Lenette, 2016). In this paper, we have attempted to portray the dominant trends in the European continent related to the integration of refugees in HE, focussing on the case of Greece and highlighting the policies of the Greek state towards the integration of refugees in the country's education system and the inclusion of refugees in Greek HE.…”

“…In addition to these, there are also obstacles such as the lack of information and guidance about HE procedures and systems of host countries, differentiated access procedures even within the countries themselves, discrimination with regards to status (International students Vs Home students), lack of financial means and, of course, lack of knowledge of the language of instruction. All these, combined with the absence of policies for the reinforcement of language acquisition for refugee populations, constitute a partial list of the fundamental obstacles to the inclusion of refugees in HE in Europe (Lambrechts, 2020;Yildiz, 2019).…”

“…The present paper will examine some of the state policies with regards to the inclusion of refugees in Higher Education (HE) in Greece, framing current policies by the Greek state within the context of other countries in Europe -the related field of educational research, remains relatively under-developed (Lambrechts, 2020). It will present a number of actions and initiatives taken by Greek universities and elaborate on their connection to refugees and the issue of migration.…”

University Applicants from Refugee Backgrounds and the Intention to Drop Out from Pre‐Study Programs: A Mixed‐Methods Study

“…Refugee students are involved in a complex interplay of various dependencies, resulting from intersections of legal frameworks and private and public actors (Berg, 2018;Détourbe & Goastellec, 2018;Sontag, 2019) and face institutional assumptions of applicants and students which often disregard their specific situation (Baker & Irwin, 2019;Berg, 2020). Therefore, barriers that are, in principle, also relevant for international students, can be amplified for refugee students and contribute to particular disadvantages (Lambrechts, 2020). Moreover, the opportunity structures of refugee students tend to guide their engagement towards vocational training or employment.…”

“…Internationally, various studies have dealt with the challenges of refugees in accessing HE (Lambrechts, 2020;Molla, 2019;Morrice, 2013). However, there is still a lack of research that takes a comparative perspective on foreign student applicants with and without a refugee background.…”