The Potential and Reality of New Refugees Entering German Higher Education: The Case of Berlin Institutions

Abstract

By the close of 2015, roughly 890,000 new refugees had arrived in Germany, more than half fleeing the ongoing Syrian Civil War. While Germany had been accustomed to heavy migration streams since the end of the Second World War, the speed of the refugee influx was unexpected. Federal, state, and municipal governments and German civil society, including educational institutions, were largely unprepared and scrambled to respond. This article critically examines the efforts of three universities in Berlin to address the “refugee crisis,” with additional data from higher education experts at ministries, foundations, and institutes in Berlin and Bonn, Germany. The Campus Crisis Management framework developed by Zdziarski, Dunkel, and Rollo is used to critically investigate their response and its implications for Germany.

Notes

¹We use the following terms as defined by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): “Refugees” have fled their country because of armed conflict and persecution; “asylum-seekers” have submitted applications for refugee status and sanctuary in a host country; and “migrants” have left their country primarily for economic reasons but not due to the threat of persecution (UNHCR, 2016a; UNHCR, n.d.).

²While Germany took in the largest number of refugees, there are other countries, such as Sweden, that took in a higher per-capita share (Tanner, 2016).

³Since this research was conducted in the summer of 2016, a study by the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) (2017) found that in the winter of 2016–2017, five times as many refugee students had enrolled in higher education (1,140) and twice as many potential students had consulted course and career guidance services than had done so in the previous semester.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the International Education Research Foundation [Grant Number Inez Sepmeyer Research Grant].

Notes on contributors

Bernhard Streitwieser

Bernhard Streitwieser is an assistant professor of International Education at the George Washington University and co-chair of its UNESCO Chair in Education for Development. His research looks broadly at the impact of globalization on the internationalization of higher education comparatively and focuses in particular on (a) study abroad and international student exchange, (b) challenges of access, equity, and inclusion for internationally mobile students, and (c) integration of refugees into higher education. His regional areas of focus are Germany, Europe, and the United States.

Lukas Brueck

Lukas Brueck is a Masters of Education Policies for Global Development Candidate, Erasmus Mundus Joint Degree at Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Amsterdam, Malta, and Oslo.

Rachel Moody

Rachel Moody has a Masters of International Education in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University.

Margaret Taylor

Margaret Taylor has a Masters of Education Policy in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at George Washington University.