Dr. Bernhard Streitwieser presented a webinar with the findings of his 18-month study funded by the Institute of International Education, "Educational Pathways for Refugee Students: Comparing Higher Education Interventions for Refugees in Germany and Lebanon." The research team included former GSEHD Visiting Scholar Lukas Brueck, PhD Candidate Jisun Jeong, and colleagues from Rutgers University and the American University of Beirut.
The aim of this study was to understand how refugees go from acquiring education in the form of non-formal educational training to transitioning into formal higher education in accredited, degree granting institutions. Among all refugees on the globe today, only 3% will manage this pathway and successfully go on to tertiary level studies. That is a shameful fact when considering the 37% global average for tertiary educational attainment (UNHCR, 2019c). Yet time and time again, refugees with a renewed educational perspective have proven to be among the most resilient types of learners who make critical economic and social contributors to their host countries, despite the extraordinary odds and massive challenges they must overcome.