Repository logo
 

The Institute for Global Health and Development

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/9

Browse

Filters

2023 - 20242

Settings

Author: search.filters.author.Fernandes, MarcusHas files: Yes

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    ‘At some points you feel awful because you are going to start again’: The ambiguous role of education in highly skilled refugee women’s integration experiences
    (SAGE, 2024-09-25) Baillot, Helen; Fernandes, Marcus
    In refugee and migration studies, education has been situated as both a marker of integration and a facilitator of progress in other domains. This paper draws on the accounts of three highly skilled women who have experienced forced migration to highlight some of the ambiguities of education’s role in pathways to social and economic inclusion. A case study approach allows for a detailed and contextual exploration of how intersections of age, caring responsibilities and immigration status influence women’s ability to engage with education. Participants’ accounts confirm that accessing desired and appropriate educational provision can propel people towards their longer-term goals. However, provision that is inaccessible or perceived to be below women’s skill levels can be experienced as exclusionary and demoralising, with attendant impact on women’s perceptions of integration and hopes for the future. Women deploy several strategies to overcome these obstacles, including leveraging existing social connections and re-evaluating their future career pathways. Yet these strategies are not always fully successful. Our findings point towards the need for improved provision for adult refugees and a concerted effort by educational institutions to tackle continuing systemic barriers to education.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Role of Social Connections, Time and Place in Refugees’ Pathways to Inclusion: Final Report 2020 - 2023
    (Queen Margaret University, 2023-12) Kerlaff, Leyla; Baillot, Helen; Palombo, Gianluca; Fernandes, Marcus; Vera Espinoza, Marcia
    his report outlines overall findings from the ABM3 New Scots: A Pathway to Social and Economic Inclusion Project which was funded by the Asylum Migration Integration Fund (AMIF) and delivered in three phases from October 2020 to December 2023. Here we focus on the third and final phase of the research conducted in 2023 while drawing on learning from Phase 1 (see Baillot et al., 2022) and from Phase 2 (Vidal and Palombo, 2022). More in-depth information is also available in our academic publications (see Käkelä et al., 2023; Vera Espinoza et al., 2023) and our interim reports. The three phases of the project and their respective aims are represented in the Timeline at figure 1. The ABM3 New Scots: Pathways to Social and Economic Inclusion Project is a partnership between researchers based at Queen Margaret University’s Institute for Global Health and Development and three third sector organisations who deliver specialist services: Scottish Refugee Council (integration planning), Workers’ Educational Association (English language assessment and learning) and Bridges Programmes (employability support). These practice partners have engaged with the research team to facilitate data collection, interpret findings and share mutual learning. The research component of the ABM3 project has explored the following research questions: 1. What is the role of social connections in refugees’ pathways to social and economic inclusion? 2. What meaning(s) do refugees ascribe to connections at different stages in their pathways? Building on our learning over the first two phases of the project, and to support our partners to adapt to the needs of their growing and changing client group,1 in the third phase we have focused in on the role of time and place in building social connections towards economic and social inclusion. The research team’s objectives for the project extension period were therefore to: • Explore how time and place impact the social connections that support specific means and markers of integration, including housing and employability; • Analyse the role of place in facilitating social connections between more recently arrived refugee people and more established residents in Scottish Local Authority (LA) areas; and • Discuss the contribution of AMIF partners to participants’ integration journeys. Names used in this report are all pseudonyms, to protect the identity and confidentiality of our participants.