What happens to forcibly displaced students seeking to work during their studies, and after graduation? That was the main question that drove the ‘Forcibly Displaced Students’ Career Transition’ workshop, bringing together students who had experienced forced displacement, professional staff and academics from the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter and UWE on the 13th June 2024. This was the second meeting of the South-West Universities of Sanctuary network. Funding for the workshop was provided by the University of Bath.
Not much is known about the experiences of forcibly displaced students (FDS) when they seek to move out of Higher Education and into the UK labour market due to a lack of systematic data and research in this area. Insight about FDS experiences and challenges, as well as access to quantitative data on their trajectories after university is essential for better support, as careers service staff highlighted during
the workshop.
The one-day gathering was intended to be a step towards filling that knowledge gap. It provided opportunities for creating direct connections between forcibly displaced students, academic and professional staff, sharing experiences, discussing initial research findings from a GW4-funded project and brainstorming together on how to move forward.
First findings based on focus group research with forcibly displaced students presented by Dr. Isabelle Schäfer revealed that career development was a major worry for them and that they face an extremely complex legal and administrative system that can hinder or delay access to career opportunities, including gathering work experience possibilities during their studies.
The complexity of the system became apparent during workshop discussions. While students explained how helpful it would be to receive individualised guidance on opportunities for refugees and asylum seekers, careers services staff wondered how to best offer such guidance. They explained that they would need help with understanding the legal framework in order to correctly advise their students. For instance: Those students who do not have the right to work are allowed to volunteer, but what counts as volunteering under immigration law in a deliberately blurry and frequently changing
legal context? Sharing information between universities, as well as more internal coordination among relevant units within a university, especially between the careers services, the university immigration support services and the university contact for forcibly displaced students were all ideas suggested during the brainstorming session.
A student panel showcased the very diverse experiences and backgrounds of forcibly displaced students. Experience levels, countries, age, gender, immigration status and study level varied, but all had encountered challenges when attempting to bring their careers forward. These ranged from being rejected as overqualified, not fitting the job sectors allowed by the British government, meeting specialised language skills requirements for their specific sector, to delays in producing paperwork for work experience abroad or receiving their permission to work from the Home Office. Given this variety, students explained that guidance on a case by case basis was the most effective way to navigate the complexities of their career development.
Furthermore, it was suggested that having access to the universities’ career services beyond a few years after graduation would be beneficial. Apart from helping students navigate legal and administrative barriers, how can universities support forcibly displaced students to find job opportunities?
A presentation by Ms. Agnieszka Zielinska about initiatives at the Technical University Berlin triggered a discussion of how a university – or a network of universities – could potentially act as a broker between forcibly displaced students and employers, engaging with regional businesses to open up possibilities. Alumni networks – possibly through Student Action for Refugees (STAR) –, buddy and mentoring
programs could also likely act as a bridge between forcibly displaced students and employers. Yet broader policy changes are needed as well, and workshop participants agreed that in order for universities to effectively support FDS in their career transitions, their unequivocal support for the ‘lift the ban’ campaign, which advocates for the right to work for asylum-seekers in the UK, would be a necessary step.
What comes next? At the end of the day, the workshop participants decided on ways of staying in touch and following up on the ideas mentioned during the discussions, with the hope that regional initiatives on the career transition of forcibly displaced students would grow.
If you are interested in becoming part of the discussion and joining the new mailing list for the South-West Network of the Universities of Sanctuary, please contact Alison Borgelin ([email protected], University of Bath) or subscribe directly. If you haven’t done so already, you may also want to subscribe to the national University of Sanctuary jiscmail list.