Transition to Higher Education: Perspectives from Refugee University Students in Uganda

Higher education for refugees is the topic of concern that has attracted the attention of researchers due to continued surge of refugees in different parts of the world. Uganda hosts the largest number of refugees in Sub-Saharan Africa and is among the top five countries hosting high numbers of refugees in the world. Although researchers have tried to explore higher education for refugees, less focus has been put on transition processes and inequalities therein. This study hence investigated the transition to higher education dynamics and how they impact access and participation in higher education for refugees in Uganda. The study adopted interpretivist/constructivist philosophical stance and a qualitative case study research design. Data were collected using individual interviews and focused group discussions from refugee university students in four Ugandan Universities. Using the narrative analysis, aspects that included access to higher education on alternate family arrangement, scholarship funding as a sole hope for refugees' access and participation in higher education, university –donor/settlement partnerships and international students’ refugee’s stratification were explained in the transition to higher education by refugee students. Data explained that transition to higher education processes poses multiple and competing inequality aspects among refugees. The study shows implications for policy and practice at macro, meso and micro levels to address inequalities in access and participation in higher education for refugees in Uganda