Educational aspirations and experiences of refugee-background African youth in Australia: a case study

Access to educational opportunities is instrumental for social integration of refugee youth. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of educational aspirations and experiences of refugee-background African youth (RAY) in Melbourne, Australia. Guided by a capability approach to social justice,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of inclusive education 2021-07, Vol.25 (8), p.877-895
Main Author: Molla, Tebeje
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic Achievement
Academic Aspiration
African cultural groups
African refugee youth
antifragility
Aspiration
Australia
Case studies
College Students
educational aspirations
Educational Attitudes
Educational opportunities
Educationally Disadvantaged
Equal Education
Foreign Countries
Higher education
Human Capital
microaggression
Racial Bias
Racism
Refugees
Resilience
Resilience (Psychology)
Social integration
Social justice
Student Attitudes
the stress of racism
Youth
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Summary:Access to educational opportunities is instrumental for social integration of refugee youth. This paper reports on a qualitative case study of educational aspirations and experiences of refugee-background African youth (RAY) in Melbourne, Australia. Guided by a capability approach to social justice, in-depth interviews were conducted with two groups of RAY: those who have transitioned to higher education (HE), and those who have not transitioned to HE after completing high school. The findings show that: (a) RAY share a firm belief in the value of HE; (b) but they are differently positioned to convert opportunities into achievements - e.g. only the refugee youth with high levels of navigational capacity take advantage of the available flexible pathways to HE; (c) the stress of racism pervades the educational experiences of both groups; and (d) some African refugee youth have shown a considerable level of resilience in that, despite the challenges of racism, a history of disrupted educational trajectories and a lack of scholarly resources at home, they have transitioned to and thrived in HE. In light of these findings, the paper draws some implications for equity policies and practices.
ISSN:1360-3116
1464-5173
DOI:10.1080/13603116.2019.1588924