Higher education for refugees in low resource environments

Landscape Review

The purpose of the landscape review is to provide a comprehensive mapping of programmes providing higher education for refugees. The landscape review has three main objectives:

• To understand the different types of programmes that are in operation
• To explore the significance of academic, technological and pedagogical approaches
• To facilitate comparative analysis between modalities

The landscape review comprises 43 programmes and four additional sharing platforms, categorised into five modalities of programme delivery: 

• Modality A – programmes with a physical presence amongst affected populations
• Modality B – host community scholarship programmes
• Modality C – international scholarship programmes
• Modality D – online learning platforms
• Modality E – information sharing platforms 

The methodological approach consists of a literature review, 27 interviews and extensive desk-based research regarding the specific programmes within each modality. The modalities provide an overarching structure for engaging with the range of approaches being used in providing higher education for refugees.

Research Study

This report presents the findings from a year-long research study which analyses different approaches to providing higher education for refugees. The objectives of the study are:

• To compare existing models offering access to higher education to refugee students in low-resource environments 
• To deliver insights about how pedagogy can or should change when marginalised populations are at the centre of higher education
• To inform future strategies for programmes providing higher education for refugees. 

In recent years, a wide range of new initiatives have emerged in the refugee higher education field. These range from small camp-based and host-community programmes to large online learning platforms with theoretically unlimited reach. The research engages with the full spectrum of provision, with a particular emphasis on programmes with a physical presence among affected populations. The research does not focus on the provision of higher education for refugees in high-resource environments. Five thematic areas are analysed in-depth, organised as discrete chapters: accessibility and participation, academia and organisational structure, technology, pedagogy, and impact and future. The report prioritises the voices of refugee students and those facilitating their learning, offering insight into what students consider to be good practices and challenges of the individual programmes in which they engage, as well as of the sector as a whole.