Empowering Refugees @ McGill
With only 7% of refugees worldwide able to access higher education, there is a pressing need for universities to step up when it comes to expanding refugees’ access to and success in higher education.
McGill is already taking steps in this direction. The student-run chapter of World University Services Canada (WUSC) offers scholarships and support to refugee students in conjunction with departments around the university. In addition, the McGill Refugee Research Group (MRRG) is a cross-faculty initiative to develop the refugee research community.
At the international level, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has launched a major initiative – the 15% by 2030 Global Pledge – to expand access to higher education and self-reliance for refugee and host community youth to at least 15% by 2030. Almost 150 pledges by academic and research organizations around the world have already been made towards this goal.
Prompted by the importance of improving access to quality higher education for refugees and seeking to build on current programming and research at McGill, a new intra-university initiative spearheaded by McGill’s Department of Integrated Studies in Education, MRRG, and WUSC-McGill has been formed.
In person and online participants at the inaugural event for Empowering Refugees @ McGill, March 2024
The initiative Empowering Refugees @ McGill has three objectives:
(1) Create a shared space for everyone in the McGill community who shares a commitment to empowering refugees in and through higher education.
(2) Serve as a platform for greater collaboration on refugee higher education programming and research within and beyond McGill.
(3) Secure increased financial support and commitment to other activities supporting refugees at/by McGill to make a pledge to the UNHCR 15% by 2030 campaign.
Kickstarting the initiative, an extremely well attended awareness raising workshop was held in March 2024. This hybrid event brought together McGill students, faculty, and staff, as well as colleagues from other organizations. Featuring a presentation by UNHCR and sharing of a WUSC-supported refugee student’s personal journey to McGill, the event galvanized the community to identify current challenges for refugee students and set out concrete ideas for future action.
The challenges and next steps can be categorized into six broad areas:
(1) Funding – finding ways to alleviate the financial stress on refugee students at McGill is a key priority. Suggestions included:
· Fundraising by the university to support more scholarships for refugee students.
· Creating a faculty contribution scheme to mirror the student levy for WUSC.
· Providing more on campus jobs for refugee students.
· Helping refugee students find accommodation during vacation periods.
(2) Language – refugee students may need additional support with both English and French, and finding time for this amidst a busy workload is challenging.
(3) Mental health – there needs to be better understanding of trauma and culturally sensitive support for students and training for faculty and staff.
(4) Inclusion – the university can do more to foster an inclusive environment in general and specifically through curriculum and pedagogy. WUSC is already addressing the lack of gender parity between male and female scholarship applicants.
(5) Institutional – there need to be more processes in place to support refugee students at McGill that also account for differential educational backgrounds. McGill can promote community building and awareness raising. An important suggestion is for the university to support refugee higher education beyond our campus, targeting those in refugee camps, for example.
(6) Partnerships and communication – there are various organizations with whom McGill could partner, ranging from MIFI to local schools/CEGEPs and international organizations supporting refugee higher education. McGill can do more to tap into these resources to collectively provide support for refugees.
As next steps, a report will be sent to President Saini and the Provost’s Office with a request for feedback and advice on creating an institutional commitment with new actions to the UNHCR global pledge. A second open meeting will be held during the Fall semester of 2024/25.
To explore the results of the collective work in detail, visit: https://tinyurl.com/mcgill-refugees.
For more information, please contact:
Dr Emma Harden-Wolfson, Department of Integrated Studies in Education