Understanding Responsibility for Refugee Access to Higher Education: A Mapping of Policy Actors and Issues in Canada, England, and France

• In Event: Asserting Institutional Commitment to Supporting Students at the Margins

Abstract

Access to higher education for growing numbers of forced migrants has become a major societal issue. Initiatives led by governments, HE institutions, students, NGOs and associations aimed at welcoming refugees into HE have multiplied over the last decade, in particular across Canada and the EU. Initial efforts at mapping out and understanding such initiatives have been made but there is a strong need for robust theoretical and methodological approaches to make sense of the issue. This research uses original digital research methods to analyze which issues of refugee access to HE are addressed across networks in three different national contexts – England, France and Canada – and to what extent is advocacy for refugee access to HE is a transnational issue.

Authors

• Melody Viczko, University of Western Ontario

• Shannon McKechnie, The University of Western Ontario

• Marie-Agnès Détourbe, INSA Toulouse