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The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

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You are reading: Students from Refugee and Asylum Seeker Backgrounds and Meaningful Participation in Higher Education

Sally Baker, Georgina Ramsay and Caroline Lenette

Published in Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning
1 May 2019

Abstract

For people who have experienced forced migration, the sense of agency, control, and forward momentum that can accompany engagement in higher education can become a vital driving force. In this special edition on educational engagement of students from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds, we highlight how attention to higher education is crucial to understanding and improving their lives. We focus on the factors that support and constrain access and meaningful participation in higher education. Here, we describe the social context for discussions in the papers that follow. We outline current issues of concern in humanitarian and resettlement settings and how these contribute to an imbalance in the production of knowledge, which we seek to address in this special edition.

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Students from Refugee and Asylum Seeker Backgrounds and Meaningful Participation in Higher Education
S Baker, G Ramsay, C Lenette, 2019
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