African Refugees in Australia: Social Position and Educational Outcomes

Abstract

National equity policy debates in education are often driven by issues of disadvantage, opportunity, and achievement. However, little is known about how a disadvantaged position mediates people’s ability to transform opportunities into valuable achievements. Using African refugees in Australia as an empirical case, and drawing on a mixed method of research, this paper aims to address this knowledge gap. The main sources of data were policy documents, population census reports, and national higher education statistics. The findings highlight limitations with existing higher education equity policies in Australia and the extent to which African refugees have benefited from generic equity programs. In making sense of the data, the paper develops a new conceptual model by innovatively synthesizing the capability approach to social justice and a theory of social reproduction. The model offers an analytical lens to understand the dialectical interplay between objective contexts and subjective conditions that mediate substantive opportunity, conversion ability, and educational choice of the refugee youth.

Keywords:

• African refugee youth
• Australia
• higher education
• equity and participation
• capability expansion
• conversion ability
• capital interaction

Acknowledgments

The author also would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive criticism and valuable feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tebeje Molla

Dr Tebeje Molla is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (project number: DE190100193), funded by the Australian Government. However, the views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or Australian Research Council.