Forcibly Displaced Students in Higher Education

Forcibly Displaced Students (student refugees and asylum seekers, or FDSs) face multiple challenges associated with HE, including getting in, getting on, and getting out. While Universities have begun to give much more attention to getting in (i.e. accessing university), and academic literature has attended to getting on (i.e. supporting students’ learning), almost no attention has been paid to effectively supporting FDSs to exit HE effectively into their desired careers. FDSs themselves report their experiences of being rejected as overqualified, not fitting the job sectors allowed by the British government, struggling to meet specialised language skill requirements for their sector, alienated by the requirements of the job market, and frustrated by paperwork delays.

Building on the successes of a previous GW4 Generator Fund award in 2023, this Development Award will allow the community to conduct a full literature review and hold a two-day, off-campus, in-person writing retreat to prepare a major funding bid. This will allow them to scale up their work and secure greater impact. Furthermore, promoting dialogue across HE institutions makes it possible to use the Universities of Sanctuary network to overcome siloed approaches and duplicated work in individual institutions, and generate economies of scale in addressing this important challenge. The ultimate aim will be to further GW4 research in this area, create a stronger network, clearer ideas of ongoing funding opportunities and robust mechanisms to maintain the network.