Collectivist Care: How EBCOs Create Pathways for African Refugees in Higher Education

• In Event: Resilient Pathways: Toward Political Theories of Action for Achieving Educational Equity

Abstract

The welfare of refugees is an issue with global implications. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 20% of the world’s refugee population comes from sub-Saharan Africa (UNHCR, 2023). And while many Western liberal democracies, such as Australia and Canada, have relatively strong social safety nets for resettled refugees, support systems for refugees in the United States are limited (Sackett and Lareau, 2023). Because sub-Saharan African people in the United States are frequently at the nexus of multiple marginalities, such as anti-Black racism, poverty, hyper-surveillance, and xenophobia (Hailu et al., 2022; Thomas, n.d.), supporting their educational attainment is important for advancing educational equity.
Furthermore, a focus on African refugees is imperative considering the quickly growing numbers of Black immigrants in general. In the 1990s, approximately 400,000 people from Africa migrated to the United States (Berlin, 2010). Currently, that number has reached at least 2.1 million people (Lorenzi & Batalova, 2022). The speed of growth of this population is demonstrated, in part, by the increased presence of African immigrants detained at the U.S. southern border. In 2022, there were 13,406 African immigrants apprehended by border security in the southern United States. By 2023, the number of Africans at the southern border had risen to 58,462 (Jordan, 2024). These figures are likely to continue to grow as sociopolitical conditions across many African nations worsen and European immigration policies become more restrictive (Jordan, 2024). By 2060, Black immigrants are expected to comprise one third of the U.S. Black population (Tamir, 2022). As Black migrants continue to be a ballooning component of the U.S. Black populace, they often rely on formal and informal social networks to help them navigate bureaucracy, pursue postsecondary education, and identify job opportunities (Halkiyo & Hailu, 2023; Hailu et al., in press).
To this end, ethnic based community organizations (EBCOs) are important intermediary organizations that connect refugee students to resources, social networks, and information about postsecondary pathways. EBCOs are non-profit organizations led and administered by former refugees to provide social, economic, and financial support for refugees (California Department of Social Services, 2016). Based on my past research working alongside EBCOs, I have found that they offer multiple political theories for action in an educational context. In this paper, I will discuss the following roles of EBCOs in cultivating higher education pathways for refugee students (Hailu et al., under review; Judson et al., 2024; Judson et al., 2023):
Serving as a meeting place for college/university alumni
Disseminating information about scholarships and financial aid opportunities
Offering insight about the job prospects of various majors
Providing a space for cultural affirmation
Additionally, EBCOs often serve as hubs for African refugee populations because this population largely comes from collectivist cultures and societies where extended social and community relationships are an integral resource for navigating day-to-day life (Hailu & Chea Simmons, 2022). By highlighting the work of EBCOs, this paper has the potential to change the postsecondary landscape for an underserved group in U.S. education.

Author

• Meseret F. Hailu, University of Georgia